The Chance
by Winged Lady Colette
Summary: Itachi awakens in the time Sengoku Jidai, as the brother of Madara Uchiha, still sick and being hunted. Yaoi.
1. Reborn

**Author's Note: I know, another new story, but I really like this idea. I like a lot of crack pairings and I'm beginning to wonder if this is going to become another one. Let me know what you think and if I should continue! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the OC's I create.**

 **Warnings: Nothing much, maybe language OOCness.**

 **Word Count: 4,761**

Itachi was happy.

Even in death, he was happy.

He died with a smile on his face because the last person in the world he got to see was the one person he wanted to see the most. His little brother had become so devastatingly handsome as a fifteen year old it felt wrong just being in the boy's presence. When Itachi killed their family, he lost the right to look lovingly on to his little brother, but Sasuke knew the truth. The truth Itachi never wanted him to know, but he knew so all Itachi could do was enjoy these last precious seconds with the person he loved most. In the years that they had been separated, Itachi would think about his baby brother almost every day.

No, _every_ day sounds right.

But no day as much as on Sasuke's birthday. He often would spend most of the day staring up at the sky, whether is be cloudy or clear, raining or sunshine, he would look up and think about the little boy whom he loved more than anything else in the world. Itachi loved being a brother. A big brother, most of all. He loved taking care of the little boy that loved him unconditionally. The one who would having the biggest smile on his face at the mere sight of his brother.

Sasuke loved Itachi like none other and Itachi loved Sasuke just the same.

It killed Itachi to lose Sasuke the way he did. Yes, it was Itachi's choice, but it also appeared to be the only choice. Never would Itachi allow Sasuke to spend his entire life as the son of two conspirators against the Hidden Leaf. Not that Sasuke's lived a much better life than what Itachi had hoped for, but at least Sasuke had the chance of redemption. Itachi firmly placed his faith in Naruto. That boy would definitely look out for Sasuke and love in the brotherly manner that Itachi was no longer allowed to.

And so long as it was Naruto, Itachi could be okay with that. There was an irrefutable bond among those two boys that Itachi is certain will last their entire lifetimes. So long as Sasuke, and Naruto, are happy, then Itachi can die peacefully.

And so he did.

His consciousness only gave him snippets of his rebirth. Carrying Nagato around and battling with Naruto and the Eight Tails Jinchuriki. Going after Kabuto and fighting with Sasuke. Then saying his final goodbye. Itachi has no memories of his time in death. But maybe that's proof that there was nothing after death. Itachi, in the back of his mind, always feared that when he passed, he would face judgment from his dead family.

Maybe Itachi was a bit disappointed about that. He wouldn't be able to make final amends with them. But that is the way life has to go. Things like how death worked is predetermined. Kind of. Tobirama's Reanimation jutsu. Oh, and the Rinne Rebrith. Perhaps things weren't as predetermined as Itachi thought. Just like his first time entering death, the last thing he saw before the darkness consumed him, was the face of his little brother.

After his rebirth flashed before his eyes, the rest of his life followed from his first memories of training to go to war; learning how to be a shinobi and that he was going to be a big brother, all of the choices he has made, good or bad, and all the people he's met and lost along the way. And there was nothing. No thoughts. No feelings. No life flashing before his eyes. Nothing. All of his memories slipped through his fingers like water.

Until there was something. A voice. Something - or someone - calling out to him.

"Otouto! Wake up!"

When Itachi heard that, it sounded kind of like his own voice. When he was younger. Like seven or eight. But that memory easily slipped away too. It was the voice of a child. A small, innocent child who had yet to be worn down by the horrors that life had to throw at them. Like when Itachi was a boy. Like war. Of all his memories that were disappearing, war, remained. The concept and the feelings of helplessness and hatred for it remained while the faces blurred alongside the reasons.

As soon as Itachi became physically aware of himself, he felt his head throbbing and hands touching him all over.

He opens his eyes, squinting into the bright light, something wet streaming from his eyes at the painful throbbing in his head. It had been a long time since he cried, especially from physical pain it felt like, but he felt tired and hurt. What a way to awaken.

An unfamiliar man stares down at him, pushing his hair to the side and looking at something over his brow. Itachi turns away, trying to put some distance between himself and the strange man so that he can inspect his own wounds.

"Itachi," the man says sternly, "sit still and let me look."

Itachi's strength was nothing like her felt it should be and the man manages to push Itachi back onto his back and looks down at the wound with critical black eyes. There was something about this man that left Itachi feeling uneasy. He didn't recognize this man, or any of them for some reason. But there was a distinct resemblance among the three younger boys and the one man. No doubt familial. All with dark hair and eyes. Somehow familiar.

"Itachi," a boy with large black eyes and longer messy black hair says slowly, peaking down at Itachi, "are you okay?"

"Madara," the man says, turning to look at the eldest boy.

The boy in question turns his attention from Itachi to the man. "Father?" he says softly, black eyes wide. He couldn't be older than maybe eight or nine.

He wipes something away from Itachi's face, pulling his hand back a bit to see dark red. "What happened? Why is your brother bleeding from his head?"

Itachi reaches up with his hand and lightly pokes his forehead, flinching in pain and pulling his finger back to look at the dot of red on the tip of his pointer finger. The boy that was addressed by the man suddenly looks nervous.

"I don't know, father. We were all just playing around. I was closer to the tree line when Izuna called out to me saying that Itachi fell down. When I finally got to him..." the boy - Madara - reaches up and rubs the back of his neck, as if suddenly worried whether his words would get him into trouble or not. "Well, when I got to him his head was all bloody and he wouldn't wake up." A pause, then, "Then Marume went and got you."

Itachi reaches up again and slowly wipes his forehead off, flinching a bit again when his fingers and palm run across the bleeding cut on his forehead. His tiny hand, a lot smaller than what it seems like it should be, is covered in blood. His heart rate begins to pick up, breathing increasing.

"And fell on a rock?" the man, this Madara's father, asks incredulously, not sounding like he believed all of that. Madara shrinks back, as if worried that the man would suddenly reach out and strike him.

"Don't touch, Itachi," the second oldest boy says, reaching out and grabbing Itachi's hand when it robotically reaches up again to touch his forehead. He's maybe a year or two younger than the eldest boy and another year or two older than the last boy, who was staring at Itachi with big, watery black eyes, small streams of tears sliding down his pale, but dirty cheeks.

The crying boy puts his arms around the right arm of the middle boy. "Izuna," the youngest boy whimpers into the middle boy's shoulder, still looking down at Itachi, "is Itachi gonna die?"

The boy - Izuna - scoffs softly, looking at the boy. "No, Marume, he's not. Father will take care of him."

The man, who had been staring at the eldest boy for a long moment, before he turns back to Itachi and pulls him into his arms, carrying him. Itachi rests the side of his forehead, partially turned to the strange man's shoulder, unable to turn any more for the bleeding cut on his forehead. There is a heavy pulsing around where Itachi assumes he's bleeding from.

As the man carries Itachi through the woods, the three boys following after him, Itachi had to wonder who these people were and how they knew him. He didn't really know anything about himself, just his name. It's the only thing that's coming to him. The rest is just feelings. He knows these people, these boys and this man, but he can't recall where.

Itachi can feel the wetness of his blood sliding down into his hair. His eyelids grew heavy as the man's warmth seeps into him. He blinks slowly, a little voice in the back of his head advising him not to fall asleep. Not that he could with the painful throbbing in the front of his head. He had to be small, his body easily able to fit nestled into the man's arms. Even just one arm, when he reaches with the other to move a low tree limb out of the way.

So Itachi turns his gaze up toward the sky, the sun shines brightly directly above Itachi, making it harder for the bleeding boy from keeping his eyes closed. He must have entered some form of half lucid state because one moment he was staring at the sky, looking away from the sun and just watching the clouds, and the next moment, he was in a building, laying, on his back in the middle of the room.

Another man leans over Itachi, making quick work of cleaning his forehead before taking a needle and thread and begin stitching the wound closed. Itachi made no sound throughout the entire thing, his body feeling numb. All he did was stare blankly up at the ceiling. The man kept looking down at him and saying, "Stay awake and talk with me, Itachi-kun. Say something. Anything."

Itachi was hearing the words but didn't really compute any that was said. Someone else, a woman with long beautiful black hair appears in his vision. Her eyebrows are pulled together tightly, face screwed up in worry. She was running a wet rag through Itachi's hair, trying to get the blood out. She made sure to stay away from the stitches and the healers hands while softly whispering his name over and over again.

"Itachi," the woman says softly, her voice quivering slightly, "please speak. Baby, please say something."

Itachi's lips part but he doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know these people or what they want. He doesn't know where he is or how he even got to wherever they were. Her voice doesn't sound bad, but Itachi doesn't know what to say.

"It's not funny, Itachi!" the youngest boy calls from one corner of the room. Itachi slowly turns his head toward it, but the man pulls his head back forward to keep working on the wound.

"Marume..." the woman says softly, looking over her left shoulder.

"Stop playing around, Itachi!" The littlest boy says thickly, voice trembling. "Be okay, okay? Be okay..."

"Shh, Marume," a softer older voice says. "Let the healer work. Brother should be fine..."

A moment of silence. "'Should'..?" the middle boy says, sounding worried. The oldest boy whispers something back and the sound of shifting clothes.

No one speaks again for a bit while the healer works. Once Itachi's head is stitched closed, the man properly cleans all the blood away from Itachi's face, even the trails of blood down between his eyes and nose and down his chin and to his hairline. The throbbing in Itachi's head doesn't subside right away and it leaves Itachi feeling dazed.

"Itachi-kun," the healer says, peering down at the dazed boy, "can you say something? Here, sit up, slowly." He helps Itachi up, the woman easily pulls him into her arms, letting his back rest against her stomach and chest. She wraps her arms loosely around him and places a gentle kiss on the top of Itachi's head, but the boy barely felt it in the haze that's fogging up his mind.

He looks around the room, in the far left corner of the room the three boys are all huddled together. Both younger boys sit curled up against Madara with his arms around both boys. The woman is holding Itachi in the middle of the room. The healer is right in front of him, knelt down and looking into Itachi's eyes, looking for something and the man from earlier is a little off to the side. He's looking at Itachi with intense dark eyes, sitting with his legs tucked under him and his hands resting on his thighs.

"Itachi-kun," the healer says, "can you tell me who this man is?" He gestures toward the man that carried Itachi to this home. Itachi lets his eyes slide back over at the man for a moment before returning them to the healer and shaking his head slowly.

Both men frown at that while the woman wraps her arms tighter around Itachi without hurting him, her body starts shaking slightly. It took Itachi a lot longer than perhaps it should have to realize that the woman was starting to cry. But why? Because he didn't know the stranger before him?

The healer nods toward the woman behind Itachi. "Do you know that lady behind you?"

Itachi twists around in her arms to look up at her. She's beautiful with long pitch black hair with bangs framing the sides of her thin, pale face with large obsidian eyes framed with long, thick eyelashes. Her long black hair was pulled up into an intricate hair style that he can't really see from his angle. She had large dangling earrings from her ears that are Uchiha fans.

She had tears slipping down her cheeks, a tear landing on Itachi's face. He reaches up and wipes it away before turning back toward the healer and shaking his head mutely. The woman lets out a little sob.

The healer looks greatly unhappy by that. "And those boys?"

Itachi glances over at the three boys that he was with before he lost his memories but he still has no idea on who they were, other than that they were brothers, obviously. Itachi is about to say no, that he doesn't recognize them, but his eyes lock on to the eldest brother and this strange nagging feeling keeps tugging at the back of his head.

There was something about the eldest boy - Madara - that _was_ familiar, but Itachi just didn't know what it was. It took him a moment to realize that the healer was talking to him again. His eyes drag over to the older man, wondering if he'll repeat himself.

He does. "Which boy are you looking at? Which one is familiar to you, Itachi-kun? The youngest one?"

Itachi's eyes lower to the smallest boy in the group, taking in his small, slightly chubby face with large pitch black eyes and black hair a few inches past his chin. His little face is red and he's teary eyed, staring back at Itachi.

Itachi didn't understand why the boy was crying. Obviously he was upset about Itachi's lack of ability to remember any of them, but that means that they have a personal enough connection with him to feel bad about not being able to be remembered. He must be really close to Itachi to be that visibly upset, and there was something a little familiar with him, but not as much as with the eldest brother.

"No," Itachi says, his voice is soft and light. "The oldest one."

Madara perks up at that, black eyes wide. "Me?"

Itachi nods slowly before turning toward the healer again. He tries to pull himself from the strange woman's hold and while she lets him, she's reluctant to do so, her fingers twitching a bit to try and reach out and grab him again, but somehow manages to restrain herself. Itachi scoots a bit away from everyone so he can sit up by himself. His head really hurts and there still some sticky blood in his hair and on his neck and ear.

It took a moment for Itachi to find his balance and sit up properly, giving himself a look at himself. His hands are small, his legs are short, his voice is light and airy, a telltale sign of great youth. His body is young, but it feels to be too young. His mind feels old, like really old. He's having a bit of an issue processing his advanced thoughts and perceptions. Perhaps it's his magical head injuries. He had collapsed, the brothers said. When he turned around, Itachi was laying on the ground, with his head injury.

How did that happen? Did he fall on a rock? That wouldn't have caused that bad of an injury? Not the superficial injury, but the lack of memory? The wound isn't nearly bad enough for that to happen.

"Where am I?" Itachi asks softly, looking around the room. "Who are you all?"

"Stop it, Itachi! Just stop!" the youngest boy says, crying again, clutching tightly to the middle boy.

"Itachi," Itachi says softly, "that's me. And who are you?"

The little boy's face twists around in a look of obvious unhappiness. "Marume," the little boy says thickly, sniffling loudly. He runs a little hand over his slightly reddened face. There is a frown on his face. "You're twin..."

"Marume," Itachi whispers, not really registering the second part of what the small boy said.

"Izuna," the middle boy says. "Your older brother."

"Izuna," Itachi repeats, looking at the boy. Then to the eldest brother.

"Madara," the eldest brother says, big black eyes wide. "Your eldest brother."

"Madara," Itachi echoes. None of their names rings a bell with Itachi, but there was still something achingly familiar about this Madara. There was something about him that Itachi could just empathise with. Something that they share - which is laughable to think because apparently they are all brothers, so they share a lot of things - but it felt deeper than that. What it was exactly, Itachi didn't know.

Itachi, after a moment, manages to pull his eyes away from Madara, his eldest brother, to the man behind the healer. He was obviously greatly displeased by Itachi's lack of memory. "Who are you?" Itachi asks.

"Tajima," the man says, lips pressing together in a thin line. "I'm your father, Itachi."

Itachi tilts his head slightly, wondering if there was any sort of tangible connection between himself and the man that is supposedly his father. Itachi didn't really know what he looked like, but starting at the man now, generic things about him seemed familiar. His dark eyes and hair, a stern look on his face. Prominent lines from years of obvious happiness.

"I'm Mikomo... your mother," the woman says softly, eyebrows pulled together tightly. Her hands are curled around each other pressed against her chest. "Please, sweetheart, tell me that you remember...?"

Itachi looks at her for a moment. Her long dark blue hair pulled up into intricate twists and turns that Itachi has no idea was possible. She has long bangs framing the sides of her pale face going all the way to her shoulders. Even in her big, light purple and blue kimono, she looks tiny, frail even. Was it because of Itachi? Was she... looking so small because she was his mother and he didn't remember her? There wouldn't be any physical affects so soon. There is something else going on with her, Itachi just knows it.

"Are you sick?" He asks softly, looking at the frail woman.

She looks surprised, large black eyes widening. "I... no, no, sweetheart. I'm not." Itachi doesn't believe that, but even if he's the woman's son, he still doesn't really feel that connection with her so he doesn't press it. At this point, as far as he knows, it's not his place.

"Where am I?" Itachi asks, looking around the room. There is two beds already laid out on the right side of the room. One is close to the front of the small room, close to the window while the other one is a few feet away. There is a fire pit in the middle of the room and small chests lining the other wall for clothes and other things. All around the bed, the one away from the window, is childhood blankets - four of them - and a bunch of toys strewn about.

The three brothers are standing in that corner next to the bed. They stare back at Itachi with wide, obviously unhappy eyes.

"Why don't I remember any of you?" Itachi asks, turning to look back over at the man. "Why?"

The healer presses his lips together tightly before looking over at the man. He shakes his head, saying something that Itachi couldn't catch, but whatever it was, the man - Itachi's father - seemed even more unhappy about.

"Father," Madara asks softly, big black eyes wide, "what do we do?"

Tajima stares down at Itachi with narrowed, dark eyes, silently debating something before sighing. He looks over at the healer and stands up, making a motion for the man to follow him. The healer stands and follows him out. After a moment, Mikomo stands, bending down to kiss the top of Itachi's head before stepping out of the small house too. Itachi turns to look over at the brothers who were now creeping out of the corner of the room since the adults are gone from the house. They sit around Itachi, then only one eye level with him is Marume.

Twins. So this boy looks just like him.

"Don't worry, Itachi," Izuna says, crossing his legs while sitting in front of the youngest boy, "we'll help you out. We'll stay by your side and help you remember everything."

Itachi nods. After a minute or so of them just staring at each other, before the three brothers jump up and run around the room, grabbing things and bringing them over to Itachi, telling him about them and asking if he is able to remember them. They make sure to put everything back where they had gotten them, as to not anger their father by ruining the house. Itachi doesn't recall any of them.

Childhood blanket? No.

Painting of Tajima's parents? Nope.

Quilt grandmother on mother's side knitted for Marume and Itachi during the winter months of their second year? No.

First weapon Itachi held? No.

Nothing was familiar to him. It was as if he was looking at all of it for the first time. There wasn't even the slightest glimmer of it possibly being something for him to remember. It was all brand new. Not like the people. There was a shadow of familiarity in their appearance. Maybe not so much their faces, but things about them were familiar. Especially Madara. He was familiar. At least more then any of the others.

"I'm sorry," Itachi says, for perhaps the hundredth time in the past couple of minutes. "I don't recognize anything."

"You speak a little differently," Izuna finally says, dropping down next to Itachi again, legs outstretched in front of him while leaning back on his hands. "A lot clearer. You sound... well, not bad. Just different. How do you feel?"

Itachi shrugs a single shoulder. "Fine, I guess. I'm confused and my head kind of hurts, but other than that, I'm fine."

* * *

All four boys, after a warm broth dinner, were all put into the same bed with Izuna and Madara on the outside of the bed while Marume and Itachi were curled up in the middle. Marume was turned to Izuna with his head buried into the second oldest brother's chest, snoring softly. While Madara was turned toward Itachi, who was facing the ceiling, unable to sleep. He was just staring, feeling lost in this unfamiliar life. He listens to everyone, even his 'parents' who are sleeping in the other bed curled up with one another.

Itachi didn't leave the house, but he could hear a lot of people walking around outside. "Family," Madara had said when Itachi looked out the window when he heard people talking and walking by. Itachi didn't ask for more and Madara didn't offer anymore up.

After dinner, which he barely touched, they all went to bed. Tajima said something about tomorrow being a "big day" for them. When Itachi asked what that meant, Tajima just softly told him that he would see the next day, so Itachi kept his mouth shut afterward. He kept quiet most of the night, watching the family interact and trying to find himself amongst them. They went out of their way to include him in everything that they do.

Itachi didn't know how to feel about it. On one hand, it was nice to be able to start finding his place in this world and this family that he doesn't recognize but seems to know him well - they gave him food he ended up liking, all of them, and read him stories he liked too - before all of them went to bed.

Madara's soft breaths brush the left side of his face. Itachi turns to face Madara, staring at the older boy's sleeping face. Itachi can't really get a good look at it because Madara's back was to the moonlight, blocking it out. Tajima shifts in his bed, letting out a long whoosh of breath before falling silent. Itachi sits up slowly and looks around the darkened out little house, reaching up with a little hand and running it through his dark hair, tugging at the bottom of the thin strands past his chin. The strands seem a little bit longer than his twin brother's. According to Mikomo, they are splitting images of one another. The only way to tell them apart was because Itachi didn't talk much and his hair was slightly longer, that's it.

"You can go to them," Madara says softly, sitting up.

Itachi stares with slightly widened eyes. "Did I wake you?"

Madara shakes his head. "No, I'm a very light sleeper. But I said that you could got to them. Mother and father, I mean. You used to crawl into bed with them almost every night."

Itachi doesn't respond right away, just stares at the older boy through the darkness. Then he scoots closer, wondering what the boy will do before wrapping his arms around his eldest brother, unable to shake this connection that they have. "I don't want to go. I don't know them... not really..."

Madara lays down, pulling Itachi with him, running a hand up and down his back comfortingly. "You do know them, otouto, you just don't remember right now, is all. It'll come to you one day. I promise."

"What if it doesn't?" Itachj asks softly, snuggling closer to the older boy for warmth.

Madara doesn't answer right away, instead just continues to rub Itachi's back and think to himself. Once he finally seems to come to a mental conclusion, he says, "It's just like father says, Itachi, we are Uchiha. Uchiha are strong and capable. But more than any of that, we are family. You are my little brother, Itachi, and as your aniki, it's my job to protect you. No matter what. That's what big brothers are for. They do anything and everything for their little brothers. No matter the cost."


	2. Lost

**Author's Note: So sorry for the wait! I just started my new job and my schedule is kind of hectic, but I know I owed you guys this. I appreciate the attention to this story. Let me know what you think. Sorry for any mistakes. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the OC's I create.**

 **Warnings: Language, OOCness, death.**

 **Word Count: 4,906**

Itachi sticks close to Madara, watching everyone that walks by him. They all eye him, leaning into the person nearest to them and whispering softly to them. They tried hard not to whisper loud enough to be heard, and as far as Itachi could tell, he wasn't suppose to hear them, but he did. He at least got snippets. Each word brings him a bit closer to his eldest brother.

"...no memory..."

"Lord Tajima is greatly upset..."

"Lady Mikomo hasn't stopped crying..."

"...no one knows what happened..."

"...forgot everything..."

Madara puts his arm around Itachi's shoulders, pulling him close and frowning at anyone who looked their way. Marume walks on Itachi's other side, pouting. Everytime he says something to Itachi, he just gets a blank, vacant stare in return. The boy hasn't the foggiest idea of what he's saying and it's upsetting him. Itachi was never the social butterfly, but the four brothers were always close. They had to be, living both in close quarters and in the middle of wartime. Not a lot of room for people who can't get along.

"What happened?" Itachi asks softly, looking up at Madara, then Izuna, who was on Madara's other side, and then Marume. "Why don't I remember anything? What happened to me?"

Madara shakes his head as Izuna says, "Nothing. One minute you were following after us, the next you were on the ground, not moving. There was no reason behind it. Your forehead was bloody, but that's about it. You must have hit your head on a rock when you fell."

"Enough to lose his memory?" Marume asks, looking over at the two oldest brother. Izuna glares at the ground at the ground in front of them for a moment before letting out a long winded sigh.

"No, but man, I can't believe that happened. Unless you're faking," Izuna looks down at Itachi with narrowed eyes. "You aren't faking, are you, Itachi?"

Itachi stares back at him blankly. "No. Why would I? Was I a known liar?"

There is a long pause. "No," all three brothers finally say. Itachi stares back at them without an expression, not knowing what to make of their unison speech.

"What we mean is that you were very talkative to begin with. We just kind of wonder if this is your way of acting out, since you usually don't..." Madara says slowly, rubbing the back of his wild black haired head. Itachi stares back at him blankly once more, not understanding that reasoning. Madara suddenly looks embarrassed, reaching up and rubbing the back of his head. "Never mind," Madara says. "Come on, let's get to the river. Father will be waiting there for us."

"What will we be doing there today?" Marume asks, bouncing over to Madara's other side, grabbing the older boy's arm and tugging it excitedly. "Is father going to teach us to water walk? Oh! Do you think?"

"Doubt he'll teach you, Marume," Izuna says, smirking. "You and Itachi have to learn how to tree walk before that. Madara and I already know how. If he's going to teach anyone water walking, it'll be us."

Marume pouts, wilting like a flower. "Awww..." Madara smiles down at Marume sympathetically.

"We'll see when we get there, Otouto." Marume pouts all the way into the forest, even when he nearly trips over a root and has to swiftly recover, all the way to the river where Tajima and another man were waiting. The first thing they did was meditation, all of the boys. Tajima stayed close to Itachi, checking his form and making sure he didn't just fall asleep. He would kneel next to the quiet young amnesiac and ask him questions about his past, hoping that the meditation would help unlock the missing memories, but there was nothing. Itachi didn't end up knowing how to answer any of the questions, but the meditation came to him like second-nature.

It wasn't until about an hour of just sitting there, focusing on nature around him; feeling the heat of the sun on the top of his back and through his black shirt, the sound of birds in the forest and other animals moving about, crickets chirping and toads croaking, even the sound of the water moving down the river. It was nice to be surrounded by nature. It felt peaceful, serene even. He would even occasionally hear Tajima talk to Itachi and his brothers, even the other man, but mostly they meditated in silence.

Itachi could hear his brothers getting anxious, tired with sitting around and meditating, but Itachi was still relaxed. In the peacefulness, there was something nagging him in the back of the head. A thought, really, that he's had for a while now. When they spoke yesterday about today, it almost seemed like something special was going to happen. Is this is? Itachi wasn't going to complain, he actually liked meditating, but it didn't seem all that important. No, Itachi doesn't know how to explain. It's like Tajima was insinuating yesterday that today would be something to be excited about.

Judging by the amount of times Tajima has told Marume to stop squirming, Izuna to wake up and Madara to stop opening his eyes, it didn't sound as though his brothers were all that excited about it.

Itachi opens his eyes and looks up at Tajima. He waits until the man turned his attention from a dozing Izuna; who had to shake himself to wake back up, to Itachi before the youngest Uchiha boy says, "Father..."

He kneels down in front of Itachi and tilts his head slightly. "Yes, Itachi?"

Itachi digs one of his fingers into the dirt, moving it around in random patterns. "Um... is today special in some way...?"

The other Uchiha, who was helping Marume keep his posture straight, pauses, looking over at Tajima. The clan leader stares at Itachi for a moment in silence before he asks, "Why do you think that is, Itachi?"

Itachi grabs a handful of the dirt, letting it slide through his fingers back to the ground, creating a little plum of dirt in the air before it settles. Itachi looks around for a moment before turning his gaze back up to the older man and shrugs a single shoulder. "I'm not so sure I know. It's just.. yesterday you made it seem like today was special. Is it?"

Tajima smiles suddenly. He reaches out and settles a heavy hand onto Itachi's head, ruffling his hair. "You will see, my boy. For now, meditate."

Itachi frowns a bit at that, but obeys, closing his eyes.

* * *

A few hours later, after a lot of meditation and the beginnings of tree walking for Itachi and Marume and water walking for Madara and Izuna, the other Uchiha bid them farewell and Tajima led his four boys home. Itachi is significantly more comfortable now than he was this morning. People didn't mind talking when they thought that the four brothers couldn't hear them, but no one dare say anything so long as Tajima was walking along side them.

When the five boys make it home, Itachi had a very sneaking suspicion that this impromptu training day was just to get them out of the house. His belief was further confirmed when Marume scooted over to Itachi, grinning at him. Even Izuna and Madara scooted closer, looking down at them. Tajima held the door open for Madara and Izuna, since they both flew through it first, and then Marume took Itachi's hand and both of them stepped in.

"Happy birthday, Marume and Itachi!"

At the sudden noise, Itachi jumped back, as if someone was trying to attack him, into Tajima. The older man, as if able to sense that the boy was a bit distressed, put a hand on his head and smiles down at him while Marume, Izuna and Madara laugh.

"We were born today...?" Itachi asks Marume, his left hand fisted up a bunch of Tajima's pant leg.

Marume nods briskly, a huge grin nearly splitting his face in two. "We were! Do you know how old we are today?" Itachi shakes his head. Marume puffs his chest out proudly. "We are both seven today!"

Seven? Itachi didn't feel seven. He felt a hundred. He felt like an old soul trapped in a young body.

He relaxes, letting go of Tajima's pant leg and looks between his giggling brothers. "How old are you two, Izuna, Madara?"

Izuna points to himself. "I just turned nine."

"And I am eleven."

Itachi was totally wrong. He is no good at guessing ages. He thought they looked so young, but... well, eleven and nine were still young, but he thought they would be a little closer to his own age... well, seven isn't that far off, either. Itachi's not sure what he's thinking any more. Everything is just happening around him and he doesn't know how to keep up. Itachi's not sure he can see into the future, but he somehow knows that this is only going to get harder from here on out.

And he was right.

* * *

Itachi was nine years old, out training with his twin all that morning. It had become reutine for the two of them, trying to keep up with their battle-born brothers. Itachi learned quickly and Marume wasn't all that bad to teach, and picked up on things pretty fast too. A sort of one way rivalry formed between the two of them. Marume must have been a bit insulted because he was being outshined by his baby bother and honestly worked a lot harder to get where he's at as opposed to Itachi.

And it's true. Itachi isn't working nearly as hard as his brother. Itachi just learns things too quickly to take his training as serious as his elder twin did. Marume ran off to go meet up with Izuna and Itachi went home. He was unable to regain any of his memories, but their family made the best of it. Itachi was a quick learner. He learned everyone's names and faces in the clan in a week. Learned everything his father and brother taught him in hours, sometimes in minutes.

Tree walking, he picked that up immediately the next day. He could just do it. He learned water walking that day too, excelled immediately. Even learned the advanced skill of switching back and forth between the two. It didn't feel all that advanced. It was so easy to learn. It was after that, that the whispering turned from about how Itachi had lost his memory to how quickly Itachi was advancing. Everything that is taught to him was picked up in hours.

Itachi is recognized as the prodigy of the Uchiha clan, alongside Madara.

Itachi walks into the camp, pushing his long, chin length bangs from his face. He runs his fingers through his longer hair down to the middle of his back. Unlike Izuna and Madara, Marume and Itachi have really thin hair as opposed for their older brother's manes. Itachi doesn't so much mind that they have their father's hair rather than the endless amount of hair their mother has, but Marume keeps his hair short, going only to his shoulders, to hide it.

He pulls his hair over his right shoulder when something catches his attention. Madara was standing off between two of the homes with his back to Itachi. The younger Uchiha could barely make out his brother other than his signature mane. Curious as to what his elder brother was doing all by himself, he makes his way over to the thirteen year old only to stop in the opening between the two homes to see his father standing in front of Madara, frowning.

"Do you have any idea what you've done, Madara?" Tajima growls, glaring down at the boy. "Playing around _with a Senju._ Have you lost your mind?"

"I'm sorry, father," Madara says, eyebrows pulled together tightly. "I didn't know! Please forgive me!"

Tajima sighs, rubbing the back of the shaved part of his head. "Don't say anything for a moment. I need some time to think." Madara's mouth snaps shut in obedience. He lowers his head, trying to seem less guilty.

Itachi slowly walks over to Madara, putting a hand on his older brother's inner right elbow. The older boy jumps in surprise, looking first at Itachi in surprise, then at their father, a look of worry on his face. Any other children would get in deep trouble for ease dropping on Tajima disciplining any of the kids. Except for Itachi. Ever since Itachi lost his memory, he could do nothing wrong in their shared father's eyes.

"Itachi," Tajima says, looking down at his youngest son, "this has nothing to do with you, go on now. Where is Marume?"

"Looking for Izuna," he says. "Is aniki in trouble?"

Tajima sighs, rubbing the back of his head again. "No. No, he's not. Madara, you gave nothing away about our strengths or weakness? Anything that could help the Senju in any way?" He asks, looking down at his eldest. Madara briskly shakes his head in negative, holding his breath. Is his father going to let him off the hook because Itachi was there? Does he dare to hope? "Good," Tajima says stiffly. "You're going to have to do three extra hours of training in the morning for a week. Understood?"

Madara nods again. "Yes, father."

"Good, go. Your mother's healer, Honda, says she needs water from the river, she's not feeling well. Get it for her."

Madara disappears swiftly before Tajima can come to his sense and give the older boy a more harsh punishment, leaving Itachi and Tajima there. Itachi stares up at his father for a long time before stepping closer and softly saying, "I got that fire style jutsu you taught me, father."

Tajima's previous unhappiness disappears immediately. "Good boy, Itachi. Come, I would love to see it in action. Do you have the chakra for a demonstration?" Itachi nods. "Good, let's go."

* * *

Itachi releases the multi-fireball jutsu, hitting all the predetermined targets with pinpoint accuracy. Tajima is practically glowing with pride as he reaches down and pats down Itachi's hair.

"Good boy, Itachi," Tajima says. "I'll show you another one tomorrow."

"Show me too, okay father?"

Both Uchiha turn to see Izuna walking toward them, long bushy hair in his eyes, obscuring a part of his face. He tilts his head to the side to see them better.

"Izuna," Tajima says, "did you learn that kenjutsu style I showed you?"

Izuna nods. "Reimei already said I was good. He said I can move on to the next step when Kyo returns from the mission you sent him on, so I've got time. Teach me too, okay?" He smiles boyishly.

Tajima nods, but Itachi's not really listening to them, he asks, "Did Marume find you, Izuna?"

Izuna stares back at him blankly. "Um, no. I was unaware he was looking for me. Should I go look for him?"

Itachi shakes his head, looking up at his father. "I can go. I know where he was heading."

Tajima nods, waving his hand dismissively. "Go ahead. Good job today, Itachi. Izuna, come with me. There is actually something I want to show you." Izuna reaches down and messes up Itachi's hair as he passes, grinning down at the pouting youngest brother before following his father back to the camp. Itachi turns around, letting his pitch black eyes scan across the tree line. He finds the place where he and his older twin separated and tracks him. A skill that Madara was showing him, and like all things, it comes easily.

It's like he's somehow done it before.

Itachi begins to follow his brother's tracks away from the camp. And away. And away, until Itachi began to wonder if perhaps he was tracking wrong. Why would his brother get so far away from camp? He knows how dangerous it is being out in the woods by himself, there is Senju and traps everywhere. Keeping in mind that it's the perfect training; locating, assessing and then dismantling traps in the forest. A good skill to master, but very dangerous.

Training. That's it. He's out here training, not looking for Izuna.

That boy was so stubborn. Itachi always insisted that they could go train together. That it would easier. _Safer,_ by most means, but that boy just won't listen. Not to his little brother.

Itachi caught up to Marume almost an hour later, his brother was hustling it. He lands on a tree branch over head his brother. He crouches down and watches his brother walk around in the forest, muttering to himself. Itachi waits a few minutes, just watching his brother pace around, without much awareness to where he was and what he was doing. He's going to get himself killed.

Itachi jumps down, landing with a soft thump on the forest floor. It took Marume too long, at least a couple of seconds passed before he reacted to the noise, spinning around with a kunai pulled. Itachi stares back at him, blankly. Marume huffs, putting his kunai away to glare at his younger brother. "I could have killed you," he says.

"I could say the same," Itachi says back. "You gave me enough time to."

Marume glares. "Shut up. I just let you sneak up on me."

Itachi tilts his head slightly. "What a dangerous thing for you to do, aniki. What if I were an enemy? I would have gotten far too close with far too much time to get even closer-"

"I know!" Marume snaps, putting his hands on his hip. "Just shut up, okay? You are so annoying." Itachi stares back at him quietly, keeping his face neutral. Marume just stares at him for a long moment, as if trying to find something that isn't there. He frowns unhappily, before sighing and looking away. "Why do you always do that, Itachi?"

Itachi raises an eyebrow at that. "Do what?"

Marume's shoulders slump. "Be so infuriatingly appeasing?"

Itachi shakes his head. "I thought that was what people wanted? There is enough hard headedness in our clan as it is. I don't think we need any more. Forgive me." The younger of the two shrugs his shoulders.

The shorter haired boy rolls his eyes. "Yeah..."

There is a slight pause, then, Itachi says, "Father wants us back home. I'm sure there is a search team already looking for us. Best get home soon and avoid too much trouble."

Marume nods. "Alright, let's go."

Itachi turns, heading back toward the camp. He can hear the sound of leaves crunching behind him as Marume follows when he hear a different sound from behind him. Something snapping. Like a wire. And then the sound of something whizzing through the air. Itachi spins around with wide eyes.

"Marume, trap!"

Marume's eyes widen, his muscles tense up, getting ready to move. Itachi was already heading toward his brother. Itachi knows it's stupid. It's one of the first things that they are taught when dealing with traps; when they go off, run away not toward, regardless of who is in the cross fire. Best for those meant to be caught in the crossfire to get hurt than any more unnecessary casualties.

But this is different. This is his brother. This is Marume.

Everything happened so fast. They brothers locked eyes and the same thing seems to be running through each other's mind: no matter what happens. They are both going home today. They are family and no one will be left to rot in this forest or be taken prisoner by any Senju. It's them until the end. Itachi could see it, as they stepped closer to one another, the deep regret in Marume's eyes. It's his fault they are here, but Itachi doesn't care. All he cares about is getting to his brother and saving his life.

One moment, Itachi was running toward his older twin, whose arm was outstretched toward him trying to reach him but his legs don't move. It's as if he's stuck somehow, then next moment: instant pain. Then blackness.

* * *

Through the haze of darkness, Itachi thought one thing. It was a mantra in his mind, on repeat over and over again playing in his mind. He had to get Marume home safe. His brother couldn't be out there, by himself. Unlike the filth, the taint that Itachi could feel on his soul, his brother wasn't like him. Marume was as innocent as they came. All he wanted was to protect his family and impress their father. There was nothing evil or deviant about his brother, there is no reason for him to have been born into this world of death.

Itachi didn't know why he felt the way he did, but he knew there was something wrong with him. There was a vileness to himself that he couldn't understand. That he didn't care to understand. All that mattered to him was that like Marume, Izuna and Madara also had something beautifully pure about them. They didn't want to hurt anyone for the sake of hurting anyone. They wanted the war to end, to impress their parents, to live long and healthy lives.

And Itachi loved them for it.

For as long as his memory holds, he's had this great love for those three boys. So much so he would do anything to protect them. Even if his actions made them hate him, he would do anything to make sure they lived long and healthy lives. In Itachi's eyes they could just exist and he would love them. In some ways his love is unnatural, even unfathomable, but it - like almost all ninja aspects - came easily to him.

So when his brother, innocent Marume, was put in danger, Itachi could think of nothing else but to put himself between his brother and the things that were trying to hurt him. Nothing else mattered. Only getting Marume home did.

Itachi opened his eyes, he was in so much pain. He was laying on his side, facing his brother, but his brother was on his stomach, face turned away. There was a soft noise coming from him. A noise of pain. There were kunai sticking out of his back.

 _They shouldn't be there._

There was a puddle of red forming beneath him.

 _That shouldn't be happening._

His whimpering was getting softer, farther away.

 _Where was he going?_

His body was shaking a bit. The muscles in his arms were trembling. Slower and slower until they stop. Everything stops. His whimpering. His breathing.

 _Except for the puddle. That only gets larger._

Itachi's eyelids droop closed to the sound of crows singing above them. A strangely familiar and relaxing sound.

* * *

Step, step, step. Something walks through the forest slowly. The footsteps are heavy, unmasked. A form walks through the foliage carrying someone on his back, swaying back and forth unevenly. The steps are sluggish and at one point, the boy falls to his knees and stays there for a few moments before pushing to his feet and continuing walking.

There is a distinct tang of iron in the air. Both bodies are covered in blood. And a lot of it.

Itachi comes staggering out of the forest toward the camp with empty black eyes, as if his body was moving without him being home. Marume lays limply on his back, chin resting on his left shoulder with arms laying limply at his side. Five kunai stick out of his back, the blood has long since started drying. Marume's face is a sickly gray and his entire body is dead weight in Itachi's arms.

Somehow, the younger brother, carrying the older, continues moving with a kunai in his right shoulder and two in his stomach. It's as if he can't even feel them - another testament to the body acting separately from the brain. While his body moves, his mind dreams. It dreams of the day he started his new life, when he awoke without a memory surrounded by people whom he knows now love him a lot but at the time he was weary of.

"Itachi!" Izuna snaps, appearing a few feet in front of them. "Even if you are father's favorite, he's going to kill you and Marume for-" He stops, actually looking at his two little brothers, eyes widening. "Father! Madara!" He breaks into a sprint toward his two little brothers. "Help! Someone, help!" He grabs Itachi before the boy can go any further, pulling him to the ground, looking down at the kunai sticking out of both of his brothers. "Oh Kami, what happened? Itachi, what happened? Marume, someone answer me!"

Itachi sits on his legs weird, subconsciously keeping the pressure off of the kunai in his gut, eyes staring blankly forward. Something pulls Itachi from the darkness, the dream, to reality. To the pain in his gut and his shoulder and in his heart. He blinks a few times, looking up slowly to Izuna, seeing tears streaming down his older brother's cheeks, pain etched onto his face.

Behind Izuna, a bunch of Uchiha were running toward them, calling back for medics. Itachi can see his father, face contorted into a strange look with Madara, red in the face from exhaustion and worry, follows in toe. His face drains of color as they draw nearer, eyes widening.

"Itachi, what happened?" Izuna says, cupping his face with both hands, forcing the youngest brother to look at him. "What happened? Where were you? Please say something!"

It's at that moment Itachi became aware of the chill that settled over him. It was somehow similar to something that he's felt before. The knowledge is locked away somewhere in the back of his mind that he couldn't find it. Somehow, before he even said anything, he knew it was the truth. It didn't make the look on both of his brothers - since Madara got close enough to hear - faces easier to take when he whispers, "I'm dying..."

Izuna makes a choking noise, tears sliding down his face when Madara drops down next to him, his face is pale and eyes are bloodshot.

"No," Madara says, voice hard, "You're fine, Itachi. Just wait. A really good healer is here for mother, he can help you too."

Itachi shakes his head, as much as he can with it still trapped in Izuna's firm, but trembling grip. "All that matters..." Itachi whispers, feeling people slowly pulling Marume off of his back, "...is that Marume is here. He's lost... a lot of blood... but he's strong. He'll wake up soon..."

Izuna's long black eyelashes are speckled with tears. He makes another pained noise. "Itachi... Marume isn't-"

"Marume is fine," Madara says, chin trembling. "We just need to get the two of you somewhere where the healers can look at you, right father?" All three boys look over at Tajima, who was looking at the man holding Marume, who slowly shook his head at the clan leader, looking grim. Tajima has a look of actual, physical pain across his face. As if someone had run up and punched him hard in the gut.

"He wanted to get a... little more training in for you, father," Itachi says softly. He meant for the words to be reassuring, anything to later lessen the blow for his brother, but Tajima flinches, looking over at Itachi with his lips pressed so tightly together they form a straight line. "It was a trap set in the forest... he didn't know it was there... please... don't be mad, father... please..."

"I'm not mad," Tajima says, voice strained. "Send that from your mind now, Itachi. Relax, we'll get you some help."

"Help Marume... first..." Itachi says, shaking his head weakly when his father reaches for him. He lightly pushes the hands away, feeling tired. The look of pain returns with full force across Tajima's face, before he nods, taking his other son from the cousin holding him, disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"Put your arm around me," Madara says, but does it for him. He grabs Itachi's arm and puts his around his neck, lifting his brother up in his arms. Itachi suppresses a small whine of pain at the throbbing in his gut and shoulder. Itachi rests his forehead against his older brother's throat, going against the protests of the people around him and finding peaceful bliss in the blackness awaiting him.

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. MazuChi: Thank you so very much!_

 _2\. Serithus: For now, it's just Itachi. I haven't really thought about there being more. :)_

 _3\. HaPPy2901: You really like all of them? I am so flattered! Thank you very much! Well, I'd like to make all my stories priorities, but it kind of all depends on if I've got the creative juices flowing for one storyline or another and if my schedule is agreeable. I do really like this idea and hope that it can keep it's traction. I'm sorry for the wait and I also don't know which story you are referring to. Sorry._

 _4\. Ady: I hadn't really thought about it. It is a very strong possibility. I will probably have a poll on my page as we get further into the story. Stay tuned until then. :)_

 _5\. middlechild274: Thank you! Sorry for the wait!_


	3. What Marume left behind

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry about the wait! I've just moved into my new house and my work schedule is so hectic! I promise I haven't forgotten any of my stories! I will keep working on them! Thank you for the warm reception to this story so far! There is a poll on my page, please look at it, it's vital to the continuation of this story! Thanks for reading so far! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the OC's I create.**

 **Warnings: Language, OOCness, death.**

 **Word Count: 6,380**

Itachi couldn't stop crying. He didn't know how long he was out but as soon as he opened his eyes and looked around at the tired, remorseful looks on the faces of all his family present, Itachi somehow knew. Somewhere deep in his soul, he knew. There was this pain in his chest, that while it could have been attributed to the lack of blood in his body, he somehow just knew that Marume was gone. Itachi didn't know how he did it, there was no water in his body, yet somehow he was able to cry, long and hard, despite his family trying to tell him to slow his heart down.

They gave him something, he doesn't know what, but it put him into a deep, dreamless sleep. He didn't dream, he just felt things. A whirlwind of emotions acting like a maelstrom around him. There was no images, no sounds. It was just Itachi and his feelings. Itachi was never any good in dealing with his emotions when he was awake, other than restraining them. But now that he was asleep, all he could do is drowned in them.

When Itachi woke up again, he felt nothing. It was like when he was dreaming, he got a hole in him somewhere where all his emotions leaked out. Now he just felt - and most likely looked - like death. He was weak and freezing, just staring at the ceiling of their home. A comfortable cot was placed right next to their parents, where Mikomo could reach him at a moment's notice. Itachi didn't say anything when he woke up. Even with his mother leaning over him, her face worn, gray and tired. She hadn't been feeling well for a while now, but she looked so much worse than Itachi remembered.

Her face looks like it is permanently stuck stricken with grief. And that brings back all the pain from before. But he didn't have the energy to cry, even though he wanted to curl up onto his side and do just that. And maybe never stop again. But that wasn't him. He would continue to mourn his brother - he's not so sure he'll ever stop mourning Marume - but that would all be either contained within his heart or when he's alone. For now, there is only one thing he can do: get up and find out who set that trap.

In this disgustingly imperfect world, Itachi knows that there is a very real possibility that Marume could have been killed by a trap set by a fellow clansmen. He wouldn't blame the person who set the trap, should that be the case, but for his own sake of mind, he just has to know. It should have been him. Itachi was the tainted one of the brothers, it should have been him that was being buried young, not Marume.

And Itachi could preach that until his face was blue, but he can't. Not now. There is something brewing deep inside of him. A need to do something to fill the void inside of him. Beneath all the pain and sadness, beneath the sorrow of losing his brother and seeing his family in pain, is anger. Anger and rage. Itachi felt so much pain, both physically and mentally. His injuries, he thought for certain they would kill him, but he's somehow still holding on. Every time he opens his eyes, people are shoving food and water down his throat, trying to keep him alive.

By the time Itachi could really be awake and aware, other than the random fits of crying, he would look around the room blankly, looking at the family member, mostly his mother, who would be sitting at his side, and judge the passage of time by her appearance. It wasn't until three or four times ago, that Itachi realized that his mother wasn't just metaphorically withering away to nothing, she literally was getting thinner, weaker, sadder. Itachi was never really conscious enough to ask her what was happening with her.

He had suspected since he lost his memory and met her again that she was sick. This was further supported when a doctor from the outside, since the Uchiha don't actually have medical ninja, just healers who somewhat knew what they were doing, to come in and take care of her. Itachi knew that there was something wrong with her but everyone insisted, when he inquired about it, that she was alright. Or that she would be. This doctor was just to help her get better. An answer that would satisfy most nine year olds, but not Itachi.

Mikomo stares down at him, her face drawn in sadness. "Baby...?" She says softly, dark circles around her eyes. "Are you awake?"

"Yes, mother..." Itachi says softly, feeling tired and drained. He blinks slowly, trying to pull himself from this dark funk. She lets out a shaky breath, leaning over Itachi a bit to lay her warm palm against his forehead, letting the heat of her body sink into his cold skin. Why is he so cold? Was it because he lost so much blood? Somewhere in the back of his head, there was a voice that told him that was so.

"How am I here...?" Itachi asks softly. He blinks slowly, trying hard to keep his eyes open. It shouldn't be him, he shouldn't be here. It should be Marume. It should always be Marume, Izuna and Madara. His brothers were always suppose to come first. Why was he here and Marume was not?

"You're a fighter," Mikomo says softly, kissing his forehead, sniffling loudly. "You are my strong boy."

"Where is Madara... and Izuna...?" Itachi asks softly, eyes drooping closed. Why weren't they there? Were they angry at him for being unable to protect Marume? He knows that he's angry with himself. Are they disgusted with him? He is. What about their father? He always told them that it was important for them to stick together. Was he mad at him?

"Training," Mikomo says softly. "They've... been doing a lot of that lately." She closes her eyes for a moment, before sighing and opening them again, forcing a thin smile. "Don't worry about them, okay? Just rest. Regain your strength. Are you hungry?" Itachi shakes his head slowly. "Thirsty?" Another slow shake. A moment of silence, then, "Would you like for me to send someone to bring your brothers here?"

Itachi opens his eyes, looking around blearily. "Yes..." he whispers. Mikomo looks over at one of the Uchiha cousins standing in the doorway and nods. He bows and quickly runs out. There is a long time where nothing is said. Itachi is slipping in and out of consciousness. It feels way too hard to keep his eyes open than it should be. He forces himself to open his eyes wide and look over at his mother, seeing her staring down at him, unmoving.

"How long has it been...?" he asks, dreading the answer.

"Since...?" she makes a vague gesture with her hands. "It's been about eight days."

Itachi closes his eyes, trying to stop the tears from flowing. Eight days. It's already been Eight days. Marume has already been buried, no doubt, or will be soon, like in the next few hours. If he hasn't already, in the next few hours his brother will be beneath the earth. Rotting. Marume didn't deserve that. His brother should be alive right now. Should be the one in this bed, recovering, not Itachi.

It's just not right.

"Otouto...?"

Itachi opens his eyes a bit, not even remembering when he fell asleep. Izuna and Madara are both leaning over him, their mother still sitting in the chair next to his bed, but back a bit to give the boys a bit of room. They both smile widely at the sight of Itachi's eyes opening up, even if he can't see them that well. Both of his brothers drop down onto the bed and lay on either side of him. No words were needed, they just scooted close and used their body heat to warm Itachi up. To stop him front the heavy shaking he didn't even know he was doing.

"I'm sorry," he croaks, eyes slipping closed, comfortable in the warmth. "I'm sorry!"

"Shh, now," Madara says, laying his head down onto Itachi's right shoulder, curling around his little brother. "Just sleep. You shouldn't be up right now..."

"Yeah, rest," Izuna says, laying his arm across Itachi's chest and over Madara's neck. Both boys are hot form exertion and sweating, but Itachi doesn't mind. At least two of his brothers are safe. It doesn't make him feel any better, but having his other two brothers close and safe, helps him slip into a dreamless sleep. He shifts a bit, trying to get comfortable before relaxing and letting himself sleep, even if the last image in his mind was his twin brother's smiling face.

* * *

"Take a deep breath for me, Itachi-kun," the healer says, smiling at the pale boy. Itachi shivers a bit, despite the Land of Fire's heat filtering in through the windows of their homes. Itachi's kimono top was pooled around his waist, revealing a skinny torso covered with bandages. The doctor was a tall, gangly man with sharp features and narrowed eyes behind thin-rimmed glasses. He always had this stoic look to him whilst taking care of their mother, this is the first time Itachi's seen him smile. At him, of all people.

Itachi obeys, taking a slow, deep breath for the doctor, looking over the older man's shoulder to the light filtering in through the window.

"Any pain?" the healer - what was his name? Honda, was it? Itachi couldn't remember, didn't care to try and remember - asks. "Any discomfort or tightness?" Itachi shakes his head, wondering where his brothers were and if he could go see them. It's been almost three weeks since Marume died and Itachi's been bedridden. He hasn't even been allowed to go and see his brother's grave. As much as the thought hurts and leaves a sour taste in his mouth, he knows he has to. He has to apologize to his brother. Apologize for not being fast enough, not being strong enough, not having enough foresight to be able to protect his brother.

In some ways, Itachi might as well of pushed his brother in front of those kunai for all the good it did trying to get to him. Itachi failed to save his brother. At the end of the day, that was all that mattered. Itachi failed. He may not remember much about his life since before he lost his memory, but failure is something new to Itachi regardless. All he's ever done is succeed. Everything that he did always came easy to him.

Except for protecting one of the three people that meant the world to him.

"I'm fine," Itachi says softly. Any discomfort he felt was easily able to be looked past or ignored. "Where is my brothers?"

"Training, I think," the healer says, smiling a bit more. "Ever since the death of Marume Uchiha, that's all they, and your father, have been doing. Dedicated, aren't they?"

Itachi flinches at his callous words, sending a glare the healer's way, but he seems unaffected by it. "That's what happens when you lose someone that you love, healer, you fight."

"Ah," he says, sounding uninterested. "You know, I was the one that did the final preparations for your brother..." he trails off to see if Itachi will take the bait. The boy looks over at him, eyes narrowed.

"And..?"

"And..." the healer says, stuffing all of his tools into his medical bag and standing up, "when the time comes, I have something for you. I'll let you know. Until then, I'd best go tend to your mother now."

As he turns to walk away, Itachi calls out to him. "What do you have? And how is mother?"

"Something you'll learn about in time; in both cases," the healer says, face falling into a stoic look. "You can move around and leave the bed, if you want. Just no training and take regular rests." With that, he was gone. Itachi sat there for a long time after he left, lost in thought, wondering what he meant by what he said about Itachi's mother. He knew the woman was in a rough place, had been for a long time, her health was failing, but could it be a lot worse than he initially thought?

Itachi pulls up the top of his dark blue kimono and wraps it snuggly around himself before standing up. There is a tenseness, a pain, to his gut, but he ignores it and heads for the door. The sunlight hits Itachi hard, forcing him to shade his eyes with his hand, looking around the Uchiha camp. It's mid-afternoon and it's hot out. Thankfully it's a dry heat, rather than a sticky one, good for training. He grabs a few bottles of water and heads to the river, filling the two bottles up before heading back into the camp and looks for his brothers and father, asking around for them.

It was his uncle; Tamiji, that offered to lead the young Uchiha to his father and brothers. Itachi agreed, figuring this was his best chance at finding them, rather than search on his own. He thanks his uncle and follows him into the forest. It didn't take long to find the open field where his brothers and father were training. There was a loud clanking of Madara's and Izuna's swords as they danced around the field. Tajima sat back, watching with a critical eye, frowning as Itachi's two eldest brothers, pouring with sweat, tried to best one another.

Itachi puts his hand on his uncle's arm when he moved to walk closer, making the man pause and look down at him. "We should let them finish," Itachi says softly, large black eyes locked onto the battle. "Madara's about to get the upper hand."

"How are you so sure?" Tamiji asks, though doesn't sound like he's going to dispute Itachi's claim, raising his eyes to the fight.

"Izuna's left side is his weak one, Madara's been preparing to go after it since we got here," Itachi says, right as Madara ducked under a swipe at his head and launches at Izuna's left side, purposefully missing stabbing his brother but hitting him with the full force of his weight and knocking the slightly shorter boy to the ground, hard. He points the sword at Izuna's throat to keep him in place. The younger brother wheezes, holding a hand over where Madara's shoulder jammed into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

"Good, Madara," Tajima says, nodding proudly, eyes flickering over to Itachi and Tamiji. "Tamiji," he looks at Itachi peaking at him from around his uncle's tall form, "Itachi, what are you doing up?" He moves to his feet smoothly and walks over Itachi. He reaches down and cups his son's jaw, tilting it up so that he can look into the young boy's eyes, looking for any sign of pain or discomfort, but the boy just stares back at him big, tired black eyes.

"I wanted to see you and my brothers," Itachi says softly.

It takes only a couple seconds before Izuna and Madara are by Itachi's side, nearly knocking their dad out of the way trying to get to him. As soon as the stood before him, they appeared to have forgotten how hot and sweaty they were as they both began talking at once; asking him how he was feeling, if he was tired, why he was out of bed, if he needed to sit down.

Itachi holds up the two water bottles and it shuts them up immediately. Their eyes lock onto the two bottles before both of them snatch them from his hands and throw their heads back, drinking greedily. Like they finally remembered how tired and thirsty they were. Itachi watches them with a soft, gentle smile on his face, large black eyes half lidded.

Izuna finishes first, taking a deep breath before offering it to his father, who takes it, before turning back to the youngest son of Tajima and asking, "How are you feeling, Itachi?"

"I'm okay," Itachi says softly. He wraps his arms around his ribs.

Madara finishes drinking and lowers the bottle, using the back of his hand to wipe the tickle of water going down his chin. Once he's caught his breath, he asks, "Is there something you need? Shouldn't you be resting? Are you in pain?"

Itachi shakes his head slowly. "I'm okay, Madara-niisan." He shifts his weight a bit from one foot to the other, looking up at Madara, whose shoulders sag a bit in relief.

"Do you need anything?" Madara asks again, closing the bottle.

Itachi doesn't respond for a long time, just staring up at his eldest brother. Madara raises an eyebrow, wondering why Itachi wasn't responding right away, before Itachi finally says, "I don't need anything. I just want to see Marume."

Itachi suspected what their reaction might be, and he couldn't have underplayed it in his mind any more if he tried. He knew they would be upset, but the look of utter pain and agony that crossed both Madara and Izuna's faces made Itachi regret his decision to ask. His father frowns deeply, and his eyes flash red, while his uncle bows his head a bit in respect for the loss of his nephew.

Tajima lets out a long winded sigh, trying to settle his anger. Once he gets his anger under control, he finally says, "Itachi, Marume is no longer with us. Whatever happened to you in the forest... Itachi, he didn't survive it. He's gone now."

Itachi blinks slowly. Even though he already knew his brother was gone, the tears still came, fresh. Itachi keeps his eyes closed for a few moments, forcing back the tears. He knew Marume was gone but somehow hearing someone say it, made it more real. He kept his breath slow and even until he was sure that he wasn't going to just break down and cry. He's done enough of that. He's got to be done crying. He has to focus on something else.

Like for now, seeing his brother's grave.

"I know," Itachi finally says, "I know he's gone. I want to see him."

* * *

Itachi stood before his brother's grave. There was no headstone, no actual symbol for this being his brother's final resting place. He had an unmarked grave, no way any of them would mark where an Uchiha's body lies. Itachi never gave much thought to the way his clan buried their dead, since a lot of their dead never get the chance to be buried. Most are cremated on the battle field. It was a wide open field, scorched, badly, from years of fire style jutsu training between the four sons of Tajima and Mikomo.

Itachi looks down at the moved earth, obvious tampering, where his brother now lays. It's still fresh, if Itachi started digging now, he might be able to find Marume without much decay already being done. It hasn't been so long for him to really be decaying?

There was a horrible tremble that went through his body to accommodate the horrible thoughts. Maybe Itachi needed to lie down. He couldn't believe he was thinking about digging up his twin's corpse. And for what?

"Itachi?" Izuna says, putting his hands on Itachi's shoulders. "Are you okay..?"

Itachi doesn't respond, just stares down at the unmarked grave, feeling this horrible feeling slithering through his body. It was something that was both familiar and unfamiliar. Somewhere, in his subconscious, he recognizes the feeling, but it felt foreign in this body. Like his soul knows it, but his body doesn't. It was a horrible, bad feeling and sent off warning signs in his head. It was a sickening feeling that started at her toes and crawled all the way up his body to the crown on top of his head.

It wasn't anything good. Itachi knew that whatever this dark, evil feeling was, wrapping up the inside of his body, it was nothing good. His rational mind knew that he had to do something to get rid of it, but he didn't know what it was and how to get rid of it. All he knew was that he had to.

"Itachi?" Izuna says again, eyebrows pulled together tightly. "You're really pale. Are you... feeling...?"

Itachi lowers slowly to his hunches, wrapping his arms around his ribs, feeling a sickening dry heaving sensation coming over him. He can hear people, probably his brothers, calling out to him and large hands, most likely his father, on his back, rubbing it. Itachi didn't cry, his eyes didn't even water up, he was just shaking and dry heaving, trying to get this evil out. His nails dig into his ribs, not knowing what to do.

In Itachi's mind's eye, he sees a man, obviously an Uchiha, in his teens with bushy black hair and large black eyes, a typical Uchiha. The genetics of the Uchiha clan produced a lot of dark haired, black eyed people. But even though Itachi had seen his format dozens of different ways, somehow this person was familiar to him but in the back of his mind he knew he had never seen him before. The Uchiha smiles at him before closing both of his eyes and red seeps from beneath the lids, like he was crying blood. But he was smiling.

And then he was falling. Falling backward into a large river.

* * *

Itachi listens to the sound of Madara and Hashirama Senju, along with Izuna and Tobirama Senju, bang their swords off of one another. Tajima and Butsuma stand back, glaring at one another, but also watching their sons fight. Itachi stands a few feet back, looking at the other Senju brother, Itama, who was about twelve years old. Itachi was ten, Izuna was twelve, Tobirama was thirteen, Madara was fourteen, and Hashirama was fifteen.

Itama, with the left half of his hair being white and the right half being brown, stared back at him anxiously. This is Itachi's first time on the battle field and as logic would dictate, the youngest living son of Butsuma Senju would finally go up against the youngest son of Tajima Uchiha, now that he was finally allowed onto the field. It was strange to all of the Senju, normally the Uchiha would send their children in much younger. But not this one. Itachi was ten years old, standing with lower back length black hair and an emotionless face, not even the slightest bit afraid. Unusual for someone's first time on the battle field.

Itama looks over his shoulder at his father, who was glaring down at Tajima, as if trying to get a read on him. Tajima's face is complete smooth, silently daring the Senju clan leader to make a move.

"Your brother's a scardy cat, huh," Izuna sneers, glaring into Tobirama's red eyes.

Tobirama glares back into the black orbs. "No more than yours, I see. He's not moving either."

"My baby brother is smart," Izuna says proudly, leaning in close to peer at the slightly taller boy from between their locked blades, "he knows how a predator treats his prey. You wait for it to snap under the pressure." He grins wickedly. "Your brother looks like a trapped mouse, ready to be killed." Tobirama snarls, pushing the middle Uchiha boy back and swinging his sword at his throat. Izuna quickly back steps to get out of the way, still grinning. "What's wrong? Did I strike a nerve?" Izuna taunts. "Afraid I'm right?"

"You couldn't be more wrong," Tobirama snarls, taking a single threatening step forward to close the distance only to be stopped by the sound of his father's voice.

"Tobirama!" The boy pauses. "Do not let him get to you! Clear your mind, and then focus," Butsuma says sternly, glaring at a now smiling Tajima. The white haired Senju clears his throat, shifting slightly from one foot to the other looking a bit calmer, but also put off from being yelled at.

Tajima's face falls neutral. "Enough of these games," he says chillingly before launching himself at the Senju clan leader. Half a heartbeat later, the other man was moving too. Their fighting was a flurry of blurry movements, Tajima's eyes spinning into the red wheels of death while Butsuma's eyes narrow to focus, working hard to keep up.

The two men take their battle away from the boys, throwing heavy duty jutsu at one another before disappearing into the forest. Itachi draws his attention back to the duo haired boy, who looks like a deer cornered by a predator. Itachi can read the older boy like an open book. Itachi is small, innocent, young, and this is most likely his first time in battle. It's not a matter of cockiness that the boy believes he can kill Itachi, but he has more experience and it usually works out that way, so he doesn't want to try. Itachi is so young and could die by his hands.

Itama wasn't bad in Itachi's book. He didn't have much of an opinion of the boy originally, but he's not bad at all. Perhaps in a different life they could have been friends. But Itachi has to get payback for Marume. An eye for an eye. A Senju trap in the forest took Marume away from Itachi, now he has to repay the debt.

Itachi retraced his steps, despite his sick mother's insistence that he stay behind and let Tajima, two cousins and his brothers go without him, but Itachi went anyway, he had to see the place one more time. There wasn't anything particularly special about the area, but Itachi knew he made it there by three indicators. One being a few discarded kunai that either missed or were deflected somehow; the second being speckles of dried blood that had yet to be taken back from the forest on the trunks of the trees, on the leaves and in the dirt; and thirdly a big seal burned into the ground, half kicked up by dirt, but bits remain on the rock.

Itachi remembered standing back with Madara and Izuna, none of them daring to get any closer, watching as their father and two cousins were investigating the area with trained detachment. Itachi watched his father closely. Without even a touch of emotion, Itachi could see the pain in his father's eyes. This was the last place one of his sons stood before he died. The thought made Itachi's chest seize up, making it hard to breath, but he didn't complain, didn't move, didn't let anyone see his pain and waited for Tajima to order the three of them home before he could finally breath again.

Itachi shivers at the warm breeze that ruffles his lower back length, thin black hair. Ever since Marume died, all of the warmth in Itachi's body has disappeared. He's now perpetually cold. The death of Marume took a lot from Itachi, took away a peace of his soul, a piece of his warmth and a piece of his family. But it did give him something in return. A deceitful tradeoff from Kami. Like this gift could somehow make up for what he lost.

Itama pales a bit at the small shiver. He doesn't want to be here, he doesn't want to do this, his eyes are practically screaming this at Itachi as he tenses his muscles and breaks into a sprint toward Itachi, pulling out two kunai. Itachi doesn't move, letting his long, thick dark blue clothes, branded with the Uchiwa fan on his back, fluttering in the breeze. Itachi doesn't wear armor. It's too heavy for his small frame and he's built more for speed anyway.

Hashirama and Tobirama, staring into the red, one tomoed eyes of Izuna and the two tomoed eyes of Madara, both Senju brothers saw something that made their blood run cold. Madara and Izuna, standing side-by-side, both stood unmoving as Itama made his way toward Itachi, both stared at the Senju brothers with blank faces and right as Itama was about to get to the unmoving Itachi, they both smiled.

Hashirama's heart sinks in horrible realization. Itachi wasn't kept behind because he was the youngest and was somehow at a disadvantage. He was their secret weapon. He'd had special training, unseen by the eyes of the Senju. And he was left alone with the three heirs of the Senju bloodline.

"Itama!" Hashirama and Tobirama, who also came to the horrifying conclusion, look to the duo haired boy. "Itama, stop!"

Itachi, who closed his eyes to listen to the other boy's approach, opens them slowly to look up at the brown and white haired boy, revealing the fully matured three tomoed sharingan spinning to life in his eyes.

It all happened too fast. One moment, Itama was charging his Uchiha opponent, the next he was hearing his brothers' screaming for him to stop, to run away, and he was on his back, facing the sky and seeing the spinning wheel of death in the young Uchiha's eyes. Itachi managed to knock both of the kunai out of Itama's hands and threw him to the ground, lowering onto the chest plate of his armor, pinning Itama's arms to the ground with his knees.

Itama lets out a yelp of shock before looking up at Itachi with fear filled brown eyes.

"Can you feel it...?" Itachi asks softly, looking down at the older boy. "That fear? That realization that this is going to be the end? Itama's eyes widen even more in fear. "I'm sorry," Itachi says, blinking slowly, wrapping his small hands around the older boy's throat and quickly squeezing. Itama gasps for air and immediately starts struggling for air. His left arm wiggles free and he quickly wraps it around Itachi's right wrist, trying to get him to let go. Itachi doesn't appear to feel the clawing hand on his arm.

"Itama, no!" Hashirama tries to break past Madara and Izuna, but they repel the fifteen-year-old, standing side-by-side like a united force. They repel Tobirama next, remaining unmoving.

"Hold on, Itama!" Tobirama calls, narrowing red eyes dangerously, like Itachi, he doesn't have armor either. He's not as small as Itachi, but he was built for speed, and speed he delivers.

"A Senju trap killed my brother," Itachi says softly, sadly, "not I must kill one of yours."

Tobirama glares dangerously while Hashirama, his long, mid back length brown hair fluttering in the breeze, looks physically distraught. His entire face twists into a look of complete fear and pain. Itachi pulls one hand away and pulls out a kunai, bring it to Itama's throat.

"Don't worry," Itachi says softly, looking down at the thrashing Itama with cold detachment despite his soft voice, "I won't make this anymore painful. You are a beautifully innocent soul brought into this world of death. I shall free you without any more pain."

"No!" Hashirama says, elbowing Tobirama back so that he can't force Madara and Izuna to strike again, giving them both pause. "No, please, Uchiha-san, please!" He tosses his sword away and spreads his arms out wide, eyes locked on Itachi. "Please don't kill my baby brother! Please!"

"Hashirama!" Tobirama calls, grabbing at Hashirama's shoulder but he quickly shrugs it away, eyes still locked onto Itachi.

Madara points his sword at Hashirama's throat. "Protect yourself, Hashirama, or I'll kill you now!" Hashirama doesn't respond to him, just keeps his eyes locked on Itachi, taking a slow step forward.

"Someone killed your brother?" He asks. Itachi raises his eyes to Hashirama and takes a moment to study him. This was the Senju heir, by next year he can take over his clan if his father passes away or is killed in this war. Along with Madara, Hashirama is going to be the one that helps decide the way this war was going to end. Itachi stares right into the older boy's wide brown eyes, trying to see some form of malicious intent, anything to give Itachi reason to just end Itama's life quickly as repentense to his own brother's death, but there's nothing.

No, that's wrong. Itachi saw innocence. He saw purity. He saw kindness and care, alongside the fear and worry for his brother's life. He saw everything in Hashirama Senju's eyes that he saw in his own brothers' eyes and it gave him pause. He loosens his grip a bit on Itama's throat so that he can breath a bit. He rasps loudly, trying to get as many lung fulls of air as he can, while he can.

"Yes," Itachi says. "A Senju trap in the forest killed him."

Hashirama, to his credit, looks pained at that. Itachi almost believed that he genuinely felt bad about that.

"It..." Hashirama starts, still holding his hands up, "It..." he sighs, shaking his head, trying to organize his thoughts before looking resigned. He looks genuinely remorseful when he says, "I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say."

"Thank you for apologizing," Itachi says softly, "but I still must take one life."

"Wait!" Hashirama says suddenly, before Itachi could even pull his eyes away. "Take mine!"

"What?" Madara, Izuna and Tobirama all say at once. Itachi just looks at him with wide, curious red eyes while Itama wheezes, "Nii-san..."

"If you must kill one of us, kill me," Hashirama says.

Itachi blinks a few times, wondering if this was a stalling tactic or if the older boy was serious. "Why should I...?"

"I have to protect him," Hashirana says, eyes level with Itachi's. "He's my little brother. I have to do everything I can to protect him. Even if he does end up hating me for doing this. It'll be okay so long as he, and Tobirama, is alive and well." He squares his shoulders. "I'll die for my little brothers. Is that so hard to believe?"

Itachi blinks slowly, staring up at Hashirama for a long time. "No," he says softly, releasing Itama's neck, letting him couch and wheeze to catch his breath. "It's not hard to believe, or sympathize with, but someone must pay for Marume's life. Can you trust the fate of your clan to someone else, Hashirama the Senju protegy? Is it safer with or without you?"

"Probably with me," Hashirama answers honestly, eyes flickering down to Itama to make sure he's still breathing, color is returning to his face, "but right now, my brothers come first. I'm not clan leader yet. If someone must pay for your brother's life, then please let it be me."

Itachi stares at him for a long time, trying to decide what to do. Finally, Itachi says, "I'll make you a deal then, if you want."

"Will it save Itama's life?" Hashirama asks innocently, his primary concern evident.

"Perhaps," Itachi says truthfully. "If you can survive the duration of my most powerful genjustu, then I will consider it payment for the Senju's role in the ending of my brother's life, if not, then I will kill Itama."

Hashirama and Tobirama looks remotely surprised, even Madara and Izuna look surprised, and aghast.

"Marume's life isn't worth a genjutsu!" Izuna snaps, glaring at Itachi. "What's wrong with you, Itachi?"

Itachi shakes his head slowly. "I'm not done. You have to show me your resolve and stay on your feet the entire time. If you can survive the genjutsu and stay on your feet the entire time, his life will be spared. If not, it's mine."

Now Hashirama looks a bit worried but as quickly as the look of worry crossed his face, it was gone. "Fine," he says, clearing his throat and pushing back his shoulders and lifting his chin. "Deal."

Itachi feels a bit bad, looking down at Itama beneath him. He looks torn between fear of dying and worry that his brother might be tricked and killed for his sake. A moment later, Itachi raises his eyes back to Hashirama, looking unoptimistic of Hashirama's chances to succeed.

Itachi lets out a long winded sigh, letting his eyes slip closed. When Marume died he took so much with him. A piece of his soul, a piece of his warmth and a piece of his family. But he did leave something behind, something that the fates tauntingly implied was good enough in exchange for Marume's life. But even at this moment, it didn't seem worth it, even if he was about to use it.

What Marume left behind...

Itachi opens his eyes, sharingan spinning threateningly.

...was the Mangekyo Sharingan.

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. middlechild274: Thank you so much. Yeah, it's such an interesting time in the Narutoverse history, the warring states period, that I'm surprised there isn't like a ton of them. I happen to love Itachi like none other, so this is just something that was inevitable since I started doing time traveling stories, I think. Haha. As for Itachi's memory, we will just have to see. ;D_

 _2\. Serithus: Oh, it's just my profile pic. I haven't gotten around to looking for a picture for this story yet._

 _3\. Yun: Yes, to all of that. Poor baby, his life can't be easy._

 _4\. Nyght elf: No, it's not. Thank you so much!_

 _5\. alice: Mm... thanks?_

 _6\. AwaitTheRise: Yeah, poor Marume. It was kind of hard to kill him off, but I knew that I had too. :C Itachi is so precious that I had to put him in this situation. Aww, thank you for looking into my other stories, I hope you liked some of them! I will be putting up a poll between the Senju brothers as Itachi's possible love interests, so be thinking! XD_

 _7\. Eliana34: Hmm... something about Hashirama and Mito. Well, she will make an appearance!_

 _8\. Sorophyne: I love him too! Itachi is my bae, same with Minato! Ugh. And to put him in the Warring States period...? Yes! XD_

 _9\. Guest: Noted. XD There will be a poll on my page in a bit, too!_

 _10\. Ebony sword: Itachi never struck me as the time of person who would really be affected right away by loss. He's more of a suffer in silence until it just hits him one day. Sorry if his reactions were disappointing! If Madara gets an Eternal Mangekyo, it's gotta come from somewhere. If Izuna lives, there's a chance he won't get one. We'll see. :3_


	4. Show your mettle

**Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! I really appreciate hearing from all of you guys about this story, it really encourages me to keep going and hearing your opinions even inspire me. I love reading them, so thank you! More time jumps, sorry about that! In a very short time those will stop for a while. Also, take a quick look at the poll on my page for this story! I'm also interested in hearing your ideas for pairings. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the OC's I create.**

 **Warnings: Language, OOCness, death.**

 **Word Count: 5,754**

Hashirama looks surprised before straightening his back, rolling his shoulders and lifting his chin, trying to give the impression that he wasn't afraid. But Itachi could see it in his eyes, he was afraid. Afraid of the genjutsu, afraid of what would happen if he failed, afraid of letting himself get mentally attacked by a member of the sworn enemies of his clan. But he tries hard not to show it and Itachi is immediately warmed by his strength and willpower. Itachi wished, for just a moment that Hashirama would have refused him, told him no deal and fought, physically fought, to get his brother back.

Itachi proposed the idea, but he didn't actually want to do it. Maybe, in a way, Itachi was just trying to give them an opportunity to separate himself from Itama. But no, Hashirama took the deal, and looked like he was going to try his hardest to succeed.

Itachi has no faith. But he has to honor Marume's death. His brother shouldn't have died, but since he did, it shouldn't be in vain.

"You're going to fail..." Itachi says softly, eyes wide. "You can not survive my genjutsu. Not standing..."

"I got to try," Hashirama says, smiling thinly. "Trust me, I don't like the idea all that much either, but I have to do it. I have to save my little brother. Besides," his smile becomes more genuine, "I won't waste this chance."

Itachi doesn't respond, not knowing what to say. Hashirama could see right through him. He knew Itachi was giving him an impossible choice and he took it anyway. All because he doesn't want to attempt the favorable alternative. He won't attack Itachi, not when the boy is blatantly trying to save Itama's life. Itachi wished that this war was over, that they could all just get up and walk away from this, whether they somehow become allies, or one of the clans is wiped out, or one clan becomes the slaves to the other. The former-most being the most preferable. But the fates are rarely so kind.

"Have faith," Hashirama says kindly. "Believe in the Will of Fire."

Itachi doesn't respond, just stares at him for a moment longer. The phrase is foreign to Itachi, but as soon as he hears it, he wants nothing more than to believe in it. Whatever it was. Perhaps looking into Hashirama's mind, he'll be able to learn more about it."

Itachi looks right into Hashirama's eyes, frowning before activating his most powerful genjutsu. "Tsukuyomi." It was a double edged sword for Hashirama. No one but Itachi's brothers could break his Tsukuyomi, and it was going to cause beyond reparable damage to the young man's psyche. Itachi woke up without Marume, but with the Mangekyo Sharingan and the knowledge of it's abilities and that one day, this curse masquerading as a gift will take his eye sight away. But this wasn't about him, never about him. This was about Hashirama. In the attempt to save his little brother, Hashirama was essentially destroying himself.

He didn't know that, though. He didn't know that he would be lost in the cross-fire. Itachi couldn't tell him. Someone had to pay for Marume's life. In a way, both Itachi and Hashirama were. Hashirama was going to be forever crippled and Itachi was going to have to live with destroying this genuinely pure, and kind person. It was a heavy thought to have, and soon Itachi will have to bear the brunt of it.

As soon as the jutsu was cast, Hashirama's entire body went rigid, making Tobirama and Itama call out to their older brother. His eyes the size of sausers, before the pupil's vanish, signifying him losing consciousness.

Everyone, Izuna and Madara included, all looked on in trepidation as Hashirama stands there, swaying a bit, back and forth slowly. Something about this didn't settle well with Izuna and Madara. They didn't come to the field today to destroy someone's essence, someone's personality. They came for battle. An equal chance to win or lose. This wasn't right. This wasn't honorable. This was strange and foreign. It just wasn't right.

Hashirama blinks so slowly, Itachi thought he had fallen completely asleep, before his body teeters forward, then back. It happened so slowly, everyone, not just Tobirama and Itama, tensed up, eyes widening as Hashirama falls backward. He held on a lot longer than Itachi thought he would. It actually broke his heart to see Hashirama fall backward. Not because Itachi would now have to kill Itama, but because even though he was _so sure_ Hashirama would fail, in some ways, he really wished he wouldn't. Wished that he was wrong. That Hashirama was different. Somehow able to withstand the Tsukuyomi.

But he was wrong.

Hashirama slowly fell backward before catching himself, eyes snapping open. He stumbles, almost losing his footing but somehow managed to hold himself up and stays standing, brown eyes still pupil-less. He's still deep into the genjutsu, yet somehow he's aware enough to keep on his feet, which surprises Itachi immensely. It takes a moment before all the brothers, Uchiha and Senju, relax.

"I...I can't believe he's still standing..." Izuna says, looking over at Madara, who was staring at his one-time friend with a strange look on his face. Itachi remembered when Madara got in trouble because he was hanging around a Senju, that was the day that Marume died. It was until weeks later, in the midst of their training, that Madara finally broke down and told Itachi and Izuna about the time he spent with the Senju boy, Hashirama. He told them about their shared dream, about their competitions, about how well they got along together, he even told them about Hashirama's Will of Fire.

Izuna had scoffed loudly, proclaiming that it was a pipe-dream. Impossible to obtain while the Senju still lived and Madara was a fool to have even indulged in the idea. Madara beat him senseless after that and the two brothers didn't speak for three whole days.

Itachi didn't think so, though. He actually approached Madara later, after the boy was finished being reprimanded for beating up his brother, about more stories from his time with the Senju. Madara had smiled at him, sadly, and said that while he did beat Izuna up for saying what he did, it didn't ultimately mean it was untrue. He had come to believe in the propaganda that their father and fellow clansmen said about the Senju. Itachi was saddened to hear that there would be no more stories about the Senju boy that his brother had befriended. Despite Itachi's insistence to hear more, Madara stood firm.

With that, Itachi bowed his head and submitted to his brother's reluctance and let it drop.

But seeing Madara now, staring at his one-time friend swaying back and forth, trying so hard to stay upright while unconscious, Itachi could see that there was still something within Itachi's oldest brother that wants to protect his friend. But he fights that side, he lets Itachi torture him. Because that is what would be expected from one heir to the other.

And Hashirama looks horribly pale, face screwed up in both agony and sadness, brown eyes vacant. It's a terrible look on such a gentle face and Itachi has to look away, unable to keep staring at it. What Itachi did look at was Itama. The youngest Senju boy was looking up at his brother, tears streaming up to his hairline, lips moving in prayer that his brother would be okay. That the pain would end. That Hashirama would somehow pull through this without any detrimental after effects that would somehow change him.

Itama, as if sensing that someone was looking at him, lowers his chin, casting a shadow across the purple bruising around his neck, and stares at him with watery eyes. "Please," he begs, "please let my brother go."

Itachi stares at him for a long time, lips pressed tightly together. "I can't..." he says softly.

"You can! Just break the genjutsu now! Look at him! He's in pain! Please!" Itama cries, looking between Itachi and Hashirama. "Aniki! Tobirama!"

Tobirama physically flinches. A convulsion throughout his entire body. He blinks a few times, trying to clear his thoughts before tensing up, ready to jump into action when Madara spins around toward him, Sharingan spinning dangerous. "Move, Senju, and the deal is off! Kill the little brother, Itachi."

Itama tenses up and Tobirama freezes, muscles rippling with the strain before he eases back a bit, slowly. He glares at Madara but backs down, wearily. Itachi can see it on Tobirama's face, he's pissed that he was put in this position. And there was a lot of anger to go around, between his own brothers and Itachi and his. It looks like he can't decide who he's more angry at.

Itachi watches him for a moment before Madara turns his attention back to Hashirama, lips moving slightly. Itama looks back up at his brother, trembling in fear, tears streaming from his eyes more, whimpering his eldest brother's name. Tobirama's face screws up into an angry, pensive sneer, probably trying to find some way around this, some way to save both of his brothers. He doesn't have a lot of faith in Hashirama either, it seems.

It was an hour of them all staying as still as they could, staring at Hashirama. His facial expression hadn't shifted in the slightest but his knees were trembling so badly that he was dipping lower and lower to the ground, yet still managed to stay on his feet. Itachi has never been more astounded by someone else's willpower than he has been of Hashirama's.

"That's enough!"

All the boys jump at the sudden noise and turn to the source. It was Madara who spoke. His hands are clenched into fists and he's shaking. He's looking at Hashirama's melting under the pressure of the genjutsu that should have broke him seconds after he was caught in it. He wasn't going to go down with a fight and the strain it was putting on him, both physically and mentally was showing on his paling face.

"Aniki...?" Itachi asks.

Madara shakes his head. "That's enough, Itachi. This does nothing for us. Release the genjutsu."

Itachi's eyes flicker over to Izuna to see him looking away. It's horrible to see the kind Hashirama reduced to this shaking, vacant-eyed shell of a young man with the obvious horrors of what he's seeing written across his face. Izuna doesn't fight it. He's seen enough too. This isn't what any of them wanted. Itachi looks back over at Hashirama and releases the genjutsu, reverting his Mangekyo back to the regular three-tomoed Sharingan.

Hashirama blinks slowly, face slowly relaxing into a blank expression. His eyes open and his pupil's appear. At first he stared at the ground, vacantly, unseeing, unhearing as his brothers calling out to him.

Suddenly he drops to his knees, entire body shaking, and tears spill down his cheeks.

"Hashirama...?" Madara says slowly, shocked by his friend's sudden tears, daring to take a small step closer. He hadn't cried at all throughout the genjutsu, yet now that he's out of it, he cries, inconsolably. Izuna takes an involuntary step back, as if a mixture of greatly uncomfortable and unhappy.

Tobirama runs over to Hashirama, not at all caring if he gets stabbed in the back and drops down next to him. "Hashirama? Hashirama! Are you okay? Speak to me!" He grabs at his older brother's shoulders and gives them a little shake.

Hashirama closes his eyes slowly, letting the tears leak out from beneath the lids. Itama wiggles out from under Itachi and crawls over to his brother, shaking his shoulders slightly harder than Tobirama did, trying to pull him from whatever dark place the genjutsu had sent him to. Itachi raises himself from the dirt he was practically thrown into in Itama's haste to get to his brother and stands there, feeling horrible. He knew it, just looking at Hashirama.

Itachi broke him.

Such beauty, such light, gone. Squashed by Itachi's own hand. Lost before it had a chance to truly shine. Again.

"I'm sorry," Itachi whispers, closing his eyes, as his brothers inch closer to him, ready to stand as a united force should something happen. It's actually surprising thus far that no one has stumbled across them in their over-an-hour pause in the battle. But the sounds of their fathers' battle is long gone and hasn't been heard of in a while. In the back of Itachi's mind, he has to wonder what they were up to, surely not still fighting one another.

"I forgive you."

The voice makes Itachi jump, eyes flying over to Hashirama, who was staring up at him with watery brown eyes.

"What..?" Itachi asks softly, eyes wide.

"I forgive you," Hashirama says, voice soft. "I saw what you... what you were trying to show me." He closes his eyes again, trying to control his shaky breathing, before opening them and continuing, "I saw what happened to your brother. I saw what you've been going through and you're wrong! You're wrong, Itachi!" He jumps to his feet, now fired up rather than subdued.

Itachi blinks rapidly in surprise. "Wrong? About what?"

"You did everything you could!" Hashirama shouts, making his brothers and the Uchiha brothers jump at his passion. "I watched, over and over again from your eyes! You didn't do anything wrong when trying to save your little brother! I saw it! I saw all the different scenarios going on in your head! You tried so hard to get to him that you have to stop blaming yourself for his death! You say someone has to pay for his life, but you're waiting for someone to turn and say that it has to be you, well stop it!" He snaps, narrowing his eyes, hands balled up into fists. "If you showed that to me, hoping I would be the one to tell you that; You. Are. Wrong!"

Itachi stares at him with wide eyes. "I...I don't..." Itachi looked into Hashirama's large brown eyes and instead of seeing a broken man, he saw a fire. A fire so monstrous in strength and willpower that it nearly knocks Itachi over with the sheer power the twin orbs give off.

Hashirama is crossing the short distance between them before Itachi could even properly process what was said to him. Izuna and Madara quickly put themselves between the two, but Hashirama doesn't seem to see them as he pushes past the two older Uchiha brothers and wraps his arms tightly around Itachi, holding him tightly to his chest. Itachi is enveloped in a warmth that he hasn't felt since his brother died. The four other brothers look around confused, no one knowing how to react.

"I won't blame you for your brother's death. I _won't._ I'm so terribly sorry he died and that you felt like it was all your fault but you can't do that! You can't do that to yourself! In a world where you could do nothing but torture me, you showed me your own pain. I don't recognize that trap in the forest but I will study it! I will understand what happened and then prove to you that you did everything right! Did everything you could to save your brother! Wait for me!" He pulls away, walking over to his sword, picking it up and sheathing it before waving for his brothers to follow. His shaking form is slightly eased now that he's a man on a mission.

Before Itachi can even begin to understand what happened between them, Hashirama, along with his two brothers, was gone. And Itachi, as strange as it is, really missed the warmth.

* * *

Itachi's first time on the battlefield was also the last for the next couple of years. Itachi's training was kicked up ten fold after his father was given a crippling injury from his battle against Butsuma Senju. Itachi didn't know it at the time, but he was told that his father would never be able to be a shinobi again, but what he wasn't told was that the injury was killing it. It was about a year later, in the heart of the cold winter months, that the wound finally took his life.

Madara became the clan leader the following summer at fifteen years old. Unlike his father, who didn't know about Itachi's Mangekyo, Madara did, and turned his focus to training him with that. Even though the Elders of the clan insisted on sending Itachi back out onto the field, as he progressed so quickly and was becoming so powerful that people were running out of things to teach him, Madara was against it whole-heartedly. Perhaps he didn't like seeing his youngest brother on the battlefield, or maybe even the fear of what would happen if Hashirama and Itachi crossed paths again, but either way Madara is going out of his way to keep Itachi off the field.

Itachi is both okay with this and not. He doesn't want to run into Hashirama again, not while he still doesn't understand what happened that day, but also because he doesn't want to hear about what the man learned about that trap. Senju set it, so what? He knew that. There was nothing Itachi could have done to save Marume. So what, again? He knew that piece of shitty information too. But at the same time, people on their side are dying more and more each day that he's not out there helping his clansmen fight.

The winter Tajima died, brought misfortune to the Senju clan as well. A sickness hit their camps and took the life of the Senju Matriarch. The cold almost took Mikomo's life as well, but she managed to live long enough to officially crown Madara as head of the clan, as the former Matriarch, before she was bedridden. Her immune system was shot and Honda, after a few days, told them that they should spend as much time with her as they could, for she didn't have much time left. And he was right.

Itachi remembers sitting by his mother's side, watching her sleep, her face in constant pain. No one could tell them what was wrong with her, only that her sickness was destroying her from the inside out. It was right around Izuna's fourteenth birthday that she died. They didn't celebrate Izuna's birthday that year.

As repentance for wounding their father, at sixteen years old, Madara killed Butsuma Senju.

Madara was a prodigy. He was powerful, smart, talent and a great leader. But Itachi was their secret weapon. He was this ball of power that just kept getting more and more momentum as he grew older and more powerful. But he wasn't the only one that was advancing so quickly between the two clans.

Hashirama was too.

One day, Madara and Hashirama were about equal, with Hashirama being slightly superior, and then the next time they met, there wasn't any way for Madara to keep up. Hashirama has a power that was unmatched, even by Itachi. Not in a known match, but not even Itachi can beat Madara without breaking a sweat like Hashirama can reportably do.

When Itachi asked Madara to go to the next battle, he was shot down so quickly that he was left stupefied as Madara and Izuna left for battle with a strict, "You're in charge, Itachi," before leaving, giving him no choice but to stay. Madara knew that if he gave the responsibility of protecting the clan camps to Itachi, he wouldn't just up and follow after his brothers in secret.

Itachi hated that Madara knew him so well.

It wasn't until four years after meeting Hashirama, Tobirama, and Itama for the first time in that battle, that Itachi was finally able to see them again. Izuna and Itama were now sixteen, Tobirama was seventeen, Madara was eighteen, Hashirama was nineteen and Itachi was fourteen. The youngest of them. All of them were adults while Itachi felt like a child. All of them were tall and broad shouldered and Itachi felt like he was a stick in the breeze. Standing before the three Senju brothers again, it was different than before, but not in the way that Itachi thought.

Even though they were all adults now, except for Itachi, there was something... pure about their meeting again. It was strange. Ever since they were children Izuna has been the most outwardly vocal about his distaste in the Senju, but as they grew older those vocal out-bursts has been happening less and less. When Itachi made an inquiry about that, a few years ago, Izuna blew him off, saying that he wasn't changing at all.

Madara let him come to the battle field today, and Itachi is worried about why.

The six of them stand before each other, their clansmen lined up behind the two clan leaders and their two younger brothers. Itachi looks around to see that everyone really was all grown up. It was such a time skip for him, especially seeing Tobirama and Itama. Itama was actually kind of short, being only a little bit taller than Itachi when the boy was ten, now he's almost an entire head taller than him with his short, duo colored hair while Tobirama shot up. He was tall and lanky and his muscles are firm and strong, glistening in the sunlight.

Itachi's eyes slide over to Hashirama, who also shot up even more. At fifteen, he was tall, but now at nineteen, he's full grown. If he's not done growing, then he will be soon. He easily towers over most of them, with the exception of Tobirama and Madara, who were about the same height. The two of them were pretty tall with Izuna being a couple of inches shorter than them and then Itama and finally Itachi. Itachi shot up at thirteen, being the tallest of his age in the camps, and since then he's slowed down and everyone has caught up to him.

"You are going to be so short!" Izuna had laughed when Itachi had pointed out the fact that their fellow fourteen year old cousins had all but caught up to him in height. Itachi didn't like that. He just rolled his eyes and walked away, ignoring his older brother's hearty laugh that followed after him.

Hashirama stares at Itachi with wide brown eyes. Itachi is almost stunned to see how innocent and pure they still are. After what Itachi did to him, and all these years on top of that, he still looked so beautifully pure. It made Itachi so unbelievably happy to see that he didn't destroy that light in Hashirama's eyes. He didn't ruin another beautiful thing in this world. It was a relief.

"You look good," Itachi says, realizing that no one was saying anything.

"You too," Hashirama says, then smiles faintly. "I haven't seen you in a long time. How is your health?"

Itachi melts a bit. Such a strange thing for an born enemy to be worried about. But Hashirama was different. He didn't ask such things to try and somehow get under Itachi's skin. It was genuine concern from a genuine man. Something about him just attracted Itachi to him. What he did to Hashirama was horrible and Itachi doesn't see him ever being forgiven for it, but it does give him hope for that prospect when Hashirama talks to him like that.

"I'm okay," Itachi says softly. "And you?"

"Trying to convince your brothers and mine that there is a way to peacefully end this war. That we don't have to keep fighting," Hashirama says, smiling a little more broadly, "so, tired. Haha."

"Stubborn, are they?" Itachi murmurs. "Madara hasn't allowed me on the field in a long time. I wondered if perhaps the two of you were coming to an impasse, but from the scoff I just heard from Izuna," Itachi says, smiling up at his middle brother, Izuna grunts in return, "I'm assuming that is the case."

"Enough of this," Izuna snaps, stepping forward slightly but doesn't put himself before Madara, out of respect. "You wanted Itachi here, Senju, and Madara was gracious, and crazy, enough to let that happen. It's about time to let us in on why exactly that was." Madara is staring at Hashirama, not seeming to mind Izuna questioning his intentions. He too was curious as to why Hashirama insisted on talking with Itachi, especially what Madara's youngest brother had done to him. If it were anyone else in the world, Madara would assume it was a way to attack Itachi, since Tajima pulled him from the war and Madara kept that trend going, after their first time meeting.

But this was Hashirama. Kind, gentle, _foolish_ Hashirama who wouldn't hurt a fly if he could avoid it. As much as it annoyed Madara most of the time, at times like now, where trust is suppose to go a long way, Madara knows that at the end of the day if he had to trust any Senju with his life and the life of his brothers. He wouldn't trust Hashirama's brothers to find their ass with both hands and a map, but he trust Hashirama not to go back on his word. If Hashirama hadn't insisted that all he wanted was to talk, Madara wouldn't have allowed Itachi within a hundred miles of the battlefield.

"Izuna is right," Madara says. "Get to the point, Hashirama. You wanted to talk to him, so he's here. Talk."

Hashirama nods, folding his hands in front of his waist. "Yes, yes. I'm sorry." He takes a deep breath, lowering his eyes to Itachi and pushes his shoulders back, before continuing, "I have spent a great deal of time these last four years learning everything I can about that trap that killed your brother. The seal diagram burned onto the ground is advanced, so much so even at the level I am at seals now, I can't replicate it." He hesitates for a split second before saying, softly, "No matter how I look at it, that trap set in the forest wasn't set by a Senju. If it was, believe me I would apologize... but it wasn't. I'm sorry. The trap that killed your brother wasn't set by us."

"Lies!" Izuna snaps. "Why in the world would you admit to killing a child, fool? Who do you think you're talking to? What insane idiot would admit to that? You expect us to believe you?"

"Hashirama," Tobirama says warningly. Hashirama holds up a hand to stop him, eyes still locked on Itachi.

"Believe me. I'm terribly sorry." He shakes his head slowly. "I don't know what else to say." A thought - a horrible one, judging by the look that just crossed his face - comes to him and tentatively, he offers, "You can look into my mind, if you want."

"Aniki," Itama says, stepping closer, as if to reach out and yank the long brown haired man back and shake some sense into him. "Are you insane?"

"Obviously," Tobirama snaps. "Come, let's go. You said what you needed. We're done."

"No," Hashirama snaps, making both of his brothers freeze when he glares back at them. "No," he says softer this time, before turning back to Itachi. "You've spent all these years blaming yourself for letting your brother be killed by a Senju trap in a forest you knew was dangerous. If this can offer you even the minutest bit of comfort, then I want to give it to you."

Itachi doesn't respond, he doesn't know how to. What is someone to say to that? All Hashirama is doing is making Itachi like him more. But his words do worry the fourteen year old. If what he's saying is true, then that means that someone else set a trap out in the forest and Marume and Itachi just so happen to be the unlucky pair that happened to run into it. In some ways, it does make Itachi feel a bit better, if that's true. Then it really was just a horrible, terrible, trick accident. It wasn't something avoidable to some degree. In a forest filled with traps; both Senju and Uchiha, someone managed to sneak in another trap and it managed to catch someone.

Itachi hates that it was Marume, but at least now he's got more than he did before. Someone took Marume's life, and it wasn't the Senju. _If_ what Hashirama was saying was true.

"Are you telling the truth?" Itachi asks.

"Oh come on, Itachi," Izuna says, turning to his little brother, "you can't believe this garbage!"

Itachi looks up at his brother for a moment, seeing the desperation in his eyes. Izuna doesn't want it to be anyone else's fault. He wants to be able to blame Senju for killing his brother. Put a face to the people who ended his little brother's life. He doesn't want to believe that they have no idea who did it. That there will be next to no way to find out exactly who did it. He wants someone to pay for Marume's life, just like Itachi does. But unlike Itachi, Izuna doesn't care who it is, so long as someone does.

"I am telling the truth," Hashirama says softly. "I'm willing to let you see inside my head. Give yourself a bit of relief." He straightens up a bit. "I'm willing to prove that to you. Go ahead."

Itachi tilts his head to the side.

"You're insane," Madara says. "He'll just use Tsukuyomi. Are you really okay with that? It took it's toll on you last time." There was a touch of an incredulous tone and a worried one.

"I will," he says slowly, rolling his shoulders back. His words are strong and even, but his eyes betrays his fear. He didn't like Tsukuyomi - and rightfully so - but he was willing to go through it again, just to prove that he was telling the truth. He did work hard to figure out if his clan was responsible and as far as he knows, they aren't.

Itachi tilts his head back forward, activating his Mangekyo, making Hashirama jump slightly. He quickly freezes again, keeping still and preparing himself for the mental assault. Itachi turns his gaze up toward Hashirama's large, worried, dark brown eyes sensing both the fear and the certainty in his eyes that he is telling the truth. Itachi deactivates his Mangekyo.

"I believe you," he says. Hashirama's entire body sags in relief. At Tobirama's incredulous look sent his way, he softly explains, "If he was lying, he wouldn't want to have his mind invaded. I would have found the truth out and could just torture him again for lying. Is that look suppose to mean it was unwise of me to trust your brother?"

Tobirama looks away sharply. "No. He's not lying."

"Good," Itachi says.

"If it wasn't the Senju, and it certainly wasn't a trap set by the Uchiha, then who?" Madara asks, stepping closer, eyes narrow. "Surely you didn't want me to bring my little brother here for just that. You could have told me that." He crosses his arms over his chest. Hashirama suddenly looks sheepish. "I think I hate you more each day," Madara snaps, annoyed.

"Sorry, sorry." Hashirama says, waving his hands around before adapting a serious look. "But I am worried about that seal, now more than ever. I could be wrong, but I think that seal was designated to go off at a key signature."

"What does that mean?" Izuna asks, more pissed off now than before. "Are you saying Marume was targeted by someone?"

Hashirama looks unhappy. "Perhaps. There is... evidence that suggests so."

Izuna takes a moment's pause, obviously having not expected that answer before looking over at Madara, who now has a very dangerous look on his face. Itachi could feel both Senju and Uchiha clans shifting uncomfortably at the KI leaking out of the Uchiha clan leader. Tobirama's eyes are locked on Madara, waiting for him to move in any way threateningly toward them while Itama looks uncomfortable, unconsciously sticking closer to his elder brother, different colored eyebrows pulled together tightly.

"And..." Madara says through gritted teeth, "what evidence is that... exactly?"

Hashirama stares at him for a moment, probably debating on what to say, but probably decides the truth is the best course, seeing as Madara is currently like a coiled snake ready to strike at the next poor bastard that crosses him. He's been relatively quiet about his pain over Marume's death that Itachi in some way thought that his brother... not that he _didn't care,_ but it was more like he was mentally prepared for the loss, but now Itachi sees it clear as day.

Madara has been silently seething beneath the surface, just waiting for the moment to rip the person who took his little brother away to pieces. But perhaps it's now a bit misplace rage, for Hashirama is convinced that the Senju weren't the cause. Perhaps it has more to do with the fact that if what Hashirama says is true, someone intentionally went after Marume, and ended his life.

And it wasn't a Senju.

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. Enbi: Aww! I am so happy to hear that! I really do hope that you come to like him more. ^.^_

 _2\. Yukina. T: I hope you liked it. :D_

 _3\. SprinkleLover: Hehe, thank you! Maybe he will remember. XD Thank you!_

 _4\. middlechild274: Thank you for liking the chapter and for voting!_

 _5\. Guest: Haha, yeah. I wanted to show how similar the two of them are in the prospects of looking after their brothers. Yeah, sorry about that. For the most part this is set up for what's to come, so there is going to be some time skips, like in this chapter too. And this one was huge! Haha. You are right about that. I think Hashirama did pretty good. But what did you think about Madara being the one to call Itachi off, hm? XD Yeah, the adults just kind of disappeared. They have more important things to do, like fight each other. Oh no, I love questions. :D_

 _6\. Kashlazy: Yeah, his life is definitely a hard one. :C_


	5. The Truce

**Author's Note: I'm sorry for the long wait! I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this chapter, but it's about time to get the story moving! I'm so happy for all of your comments, I love hearing what everyone has to say! I would love to hear more, what you think about the story, what pairing you want to see, etc. Thanks again! Also, forgive the lame banter between Itachi and Izuna. I'm a girl, not a boy. It's my lame attempt to create a brotherly relationship. Forgive me. x.x Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the OC's I create.**

 **Warnings: Language, OOCness, death.**

 **Word Count: 5,411**

"In the seal diagram," Hashirama says slowly, softly, his gentle voice somehow easing the dangerous KI flowing out of his childhood friend, "I saw an abnormality that could only be a personalized seal trap within the trap." When Madara only stared at him a blank expression, unable to hide the rage pouring out of him in waves, Hashirama elaborates, "Basically, it absorbed some of Marume's chakra and held him in place while the rest of the trap activated. Without being a seal expert, there's no way he would have been able to dismantle both seals and escape." A pause, then, "Madara," he says his friend's name so softly, Itachi watches as the tension leaves his eldest brother's entire body, like Hashirama somehow had him under his spell, "I am so sorry, friend."

There is a moment of Trojan calmness. All eyes on the Uchiha clan leader, complete silent, completely relaxed and completely silent. His head is tilted downward, obscuring his face from any of their eyes. Contrary to Madara, Itachi is anything but relaxed. Something about his eldest brother wasn't right. He was like a boiling pot, seconds away from overflowing. And everyone could see that.

Once the moment is over, Madara lets out a roar of rage, tensing his entire body and letting his chakra flow from him. It surrounds him like a fiery blue bubble around his body, making him a black figure in the center. The three Senju brothers along with Izuna and Itachi take a few steps back to avoid being burned alive. Izuna reaches out and grabs Itachi's arm. Itachi doesn't know why, though. It was either to hold Itachi in place, or himself. Both brothers watched on, pale faced, as Madara tries to release his rage.

His chakra was roaring almost as loudly as he was, setting patches of nearby grass aflame. If this keeps going, he'll set this entire field ablaze, with everyone still standing on it.

Hashirama must have realized this at the same time as Itachi because he steps closer, calling out to Madara. Over and over, calling his childhood friend's name, trying to reach him through the blue inferno surrounding him.

"Kami damn it, Madara!" Hashirama yells, voice strained, hair whipping around behind him. "Listen to me!" The inferno disappears leaving Madara standing there around scorched earth, physically trembling in rage. Hashirama takes a moment to look at his friend, taking in the irrational, blinding hysteria in Madara's eyes, realizing they were just seconds away from another meltdown before he steps closer again and spreads his arms out wide. "Fight me, Madara!"

This gives him a moment of clarity as his eyes lock onto the calm faced Senju clan leader. "Wh..."

"Release your rage, friend," he says, swallowing thickly before straightening his back and lowering his arms back to his side. "Fight me now and release your rage so that we can talk through this. Let yourself feel this pain, this rage. I can take it." _Everything you can throw at me,_ the words aren't said but float in the air between them. It wasn't a taunt or a boast. It was a proclamation of friendship. Anything that Madara needed to release in order to start healing, Hashirama would accept it. All of the scars. No matter what.

"I can take it," Hashirama says again, solidifying his meaning, brown eyes level. Kind, understanding. Feeling Madara's pain as if it was his own.

The look that Madara sent him was so raw, so full of emotion, of pain that Itachi physically reached out and grabbed onto Izuna's sleeve to ground himself. He has never seen such a look on his eldest brother's face. By the shocked look on Izuna's face, neither has he. This news crushed him. He too wanted to have someone to blame for his little brother's death, and now learning that there is a very real chance he'll never know is just too much. On top of Marume's death being completely in vein, but now the people responsible may never be caught.

There is something in Madara, whether it be his instinct as a clan leader, or as a big brother, but there was something in him that just couldn't take the news calmly. And maybe it was a moment of vulnerability that made Madara choose to attack, or perhaps he was just pissed enough to go after the man who oh-so-kindly agreed to take it, but either way, Madara flies toward Hashirama with just a simple bout of taijutsu. This wasn't about killing each other. It was about letting off some steam and releasing some of the pain they had inside for their loss. Their shared loss.

Itachi, for a long time, had suspected that there was a powerful bond between the two clan leaders. It was more than just friendship. Itachi had suspected that there was something more there when he first met the Senju clan leader as a teenager, but seeing him again Itachi can really see the bond between them. The way they acted toward each other, spoke toward each other, and even how they looked at each other. Sometimes, they didn't even need to say anything to one another, there was just a strong enough connection that words weren't always needed.

At Madara's sudden lunged toward Hashirama put the Senju on alert, some of the bulk of the awaiting Senju tensed up, ready to jump into the fray to save their clan leader when Hashirama, ever keen, snaps, "Stand down!" before continuing his taijutsu match with Madara. It wasn't sloppy by any means. It was elegant, strike after strike, with passion and fear and rage. It was beautiful.

Itachi hated killing. He hated hurting people. He hated anything that could bring physical and emotional pain to those he loves, but at this moment, watching Madara and Hashirama spin around one another in a flurry of strikes and kicks. They weren't focused on anything else in the world other than each other and their shared pain.

So the two brothers on both sides, along with their amassed forces at their backs, stood by and watched as the two clan leaders danced around each other. There was elegance and fluidity in their movements that came from years of fighting, but it was simply taijutsu. It wasn't about killing each other, or hurting each other or being better than the other. It was about healing. In a very strange way. It was a stressful time, learning that there is a very real possibility that Marume may never find peace and somehow, Madara's pain reaches Hashirama on a spiritual level. They share the pain.

"Itachi," Itama softly calls out to him, pulling Itachi's large black eyes off of the two fighting friends to the Senju's youngest brother. Itama looks a bit intimidated at the younger boy but is adamant about asking whatever was on his mind. "Your brother... how... um, how did he die? I heard about a trap in the forest, but like, what happened?"

Itachi stares at him for a moment. "A trap in the forest littered his body with kunai," Itachi says blankly. Even though the words were said so matter-of-factly, they stung him deep inside. But he didn't want to admit that. Not now. Not with the realization that Marume's murder may never have justice still being so painfully fresh right now.

"I'm sorry," Itama says softly, looking away. "It's just like how Kawarama was killed. He must have surrounded by a few Uchiha there was just so much..." he closes his eyes tightly, face scrunching up, probably seeing a horrible image behind his eyelids.

"I'm sorry," Itachi says quietly. "Was it one of the allied clans that killed him?"

Itama's eyes snap open, staring at Itachi. "No," he says. "It... it was the Uchiha."

Itachi shakes his head. "No, we heard about it. No Uchiha would pass up the chance to gain recognition for killing a VIP. None of us did it."

Itama looks up at a heavily frowning Tobirama. "No," he looks back over at Itachi, "that's not right. They were Uchiha forged kunai."

Izuna glares at him. "And what makes you certain of that?" he asks bitterly. "You Senju have proven not to be too sharp in the head. It's probably a mistake on your part."

"No way!" Itama says, eyebrows pulled together. "It was definitely an Uchiha. Or a trap of some sort, the kunai were branded."

"Shows how much you know," Izuna snaps. "We don't brand our kunai. Not anymore. That was early into my father's reign when we stopped. Took too much time and kunai are disposable. No use putting so much time and care into something that's just going to be thrown away and besides that, we aren't cowardly. We don't set traps on the battlefield."

"If it was any of our allies, they would have told father, he put out a reward for killing the Senju heirs," Itachi supplies, knowing how horrible it sounded, but it was the most war-acknowledged thing Itachi has said in a long time. Their father did sanction the death of children if it meant winning. He wasn't above something like that, and neither was the Senju clan leader. "There's no way it was us-" Itachi suddenly stops, realization of his own words hitting him with full force. A horrible look crosses his face.

Tobirama's eyes widen a split second later as a shocking realization dawned on him. "No," he whispers. "It had to be Uchiha..." He shakes his head slowly. "There is no way..." He turns to look over at Hashirama, whose entire body is frozen, eyes wide, like he heard the words but was having a hard time processing the information.

Madara's arms fall to his side, his breathing deep and labored from their fight, staring at his childhood, who stopped breathing in his shock. Madara studies him for a moment before reaching out slowly to touch Hashirama, first on the shoulder.

No reaction.

Then, he gave it a little shake.

Still no reaction.

Itama calls out to him, looking like all the energy was sucked from his body.

Hashirama stares forward, brown eyes wide unblinking, unmoving, unbreathing. It's like the entire situation caused his body to shut down. It had to be wrong. There was no way that both of their younger brothers suffered the same fate and blamed the opposing clan.

This lack of emotion, of reaction wasn't Hashirama. Hashirama wasn't stupefied - well, he was, often - but not for long. Not this long, at least. He was always on top of things, always thinking. Even if it didn't seem like it most of the time. But this information hit him so far, his basic survival instincts just shut down. Madara doesn't like it. He doesn't like it at all. Now is the time Hashirama should be fired up, looking for the asshole who killed his little brother. Or maybe he should be saying something to ease the horrible looks that have settled over both Tobirama's and Itama's faces.

In a moment like this, not even stoic Tobirama knew what to think. What to do. And looks toward his older brother for guidance. Hashirama's face betrays his shock, but nothing else.

"Hashirama!" Madara yells, bringing his hand back and punching the Senju clan leader so hard in the jaw that his head snaps back and he falls to the side. It sounded horrible and if Itachi didn't know any better, he'd assume that Madara broke Hashirama's jaw, but the punch wasn't that hard and Hashirama was moving it around, having been pulled from his shock.

Hashirama turns his head toward his brothers a bit, but doesn't turn enough to give them a view of his face. Very slowly, the Senju clan leader pushes himself to his feet, dusting off the dirt on his knees. Each movement was slow and purposeful and very _very_ dangerous.

At that moment, all of the blazing Land of Fire heat beating down on them turns to ice. The entire world feels like it darkens as Hashirama turns around slowly toward them. His long hair framing his face casts a shadow over his mouth, making the Senju clan leader appear even more omnious then before. He must have come to the same conclusion that the rest of them have.

Uchiha and Senju alike are paling, both from the horrible understanding, and from the KI leaking out of normally kind, sweet Senju clan leader.

Madara's KI was like a fire, heating up the air and making it hard to breath. Hashirama's was like poison, seeping into the earth around him and filling the air, attacking the nerve endings, making it feel like a dangerous monster is probing at them from the shadows. Hashirama was always consider to be a god among shinobi, capable of amazing feats beyond reason, but at this moment, the clansmen on both sides didn't see a god, they saw a demon.

Except for Itachi. He didn't see a demon crawling up from hell, but a benevolent god, about to serve justice.

Hashirama was willing to forgive for his brother's death being a horrible painful casualty of war, but this is entirely different. If their assumption in correct, the youngest Senju brother was murdered, probably by the same people as Marume, and blamed on the Uchiha, as Marume's was blamed on the Senju. But it goes beyond all of the pain of losing a beloved brother, someone has been fueling the bloodlust between the two clans for who-knows-how long. Someone has been killing their children, blaming it on the opposite clan and getting the two clans to continue killing each other off.

Someone has been playing both sides of the war, getting them to keep killing each other. But why? There's no reason for it. Unless, just killing each other off is the entire goal of this. At the rate they were going, at some point one clan with kill the other, they kill each other, one will be enslaved to the other, or they will both be destroyed by another clan wanting to gain the upper hand.

Either way, it doesn't bode well for either clans.

Hashirama, brown eyes dark and devoid of any of the usual happiness and goofiness that is usually associated with the Senju clan leader, and Madara lock eyes. A long moment passes in a tense silence. Senju and Uchiha, along with the four younger brothers, shift and look about uncomfortably, not knowing what could happen next. It's a horrible revelation that one child was killed by an unknown for a specific purpose, but now that's two. Two heir's were killed, the fourth in line in the Senju at the time since Butsuma was still alive, and third in line in the Uchiha since Tajima was still alive at the time. They were killed and then blamed on the other clan.

Who knows how many other people were killed by these people? Whomever they were? Whatever they want? What are they doing for? What do they get for killing children and blaming it on the other clan? Is it just about destroying the Uchiha and Senju clans, like Itachi fears? What else is there?

"I think we are done for today," Hashirama says voice flat. "I'm going to... look into my little brother's death. Can I count on an armistice for the time being?"

Madara, finally calming down, nods slowly. "Yes. I do believe there is much both of us need to think about."

Hashirama's KI disappears and replace with this heavy sadness. Hashirama blinks a few times slowly, letting his shoulder slump. He rubs away the blood at the corner of his mouth where Madara hit him, looking down at the grass for a moment. He looks lost in his thoughts, brown eyes locked onto a blade of grass, but not really seeing it. In his mind's eye, he can see his little brother's body, riddled with kunai. His father, cursing and yelling, damning the Uchiha to hell and back while listening to his mother and brothers cry. While he cries.

Hashirama shakes the image away and looks up at Madara sadly, seeing the pain in his childhood friend's large black eyes. For almost an entire minute they both stare at one another, neither saying anything before turning their backs on one another and heading to their clans. Tobirama and Itama run to Hashirama's side falling into place behind him while Izuna and Itachi did the same to Madara.

Madara nor Hashirama say anything to their clansmen, everyone just neatly falls into place, following their leaders home.

A very dangerous, very dark future awaits them, Itachi can just sense it.

He lay awake in bed that night, staring up at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of the night flooding in through his window. He turns his head toward the right side, the place were Marume and Izuna used to sleep when they used to sleep together. Itachi tries to remember what it felt like to be nestled in the middle of the three other brothers, sharing warmth with them. When Marume died, it was just the three of them snuggled together.

But as they grew older, the bed became too small to hold them, they became too big to sleep with one another. Itachi moved out of the bed the four brothers had once shared to sleep with their mother after their father died. But that wasn't for long, as she grew so sick that she couldn't have anyone to sleep with and spent most of her time in the medical huts with Honda. Then Itachi and Izuna shared a bed, and Madara, being the eldest, slept alone.

And a year later, Izuna got his own bed too. Now Itachi sleeps alone. Izuna is in the bed, two feet to his left and Madara's is on the other side of the room, across to him. Itachi sits up, staring at Madara from his bed. Madara is sitting up too, staring out the window on that side. His hair is gray in the moonlight, along with his eyes and his face is lit up.

"Can't sleep?" Madara asks, not turning to look at Itachi.

"Does it show?" Itachi asks.

Madara laughs dryly, not pulling his eyes away from the window, while he shakes his head. "You and I sit up awake, lost to our deepest thoughts, and our dearest beloved Izuna sleeps like a baby."

"Such an easy life he lives," Itachi says with a slightly bemused tone. Madara smiles.

"The two of you are hilarious," Izuna says, sitting up. "Truly. I don't see why you both are shinobi, obviously there is a long, fruitful career as jesters in your futures. Seriously, a two Uchiha act," he says drolly, glaring at them.

Itachi and Madara both smile at each other. They all sit in silence, looking around either the dark room or outside. Itachi listens to the outside noise, and the soft sounds of both of his brother's breathing. The light intakes and exhales of his brothers is a soothing sound. After a few minutes of just listening to it, Itachi lays down.

"Madara?" Itachi calls out softly.

"Hm?"

"Izuna?" Itachi also calls out.

"Yeah?"

Itachi doesn't say anything right away, not exactly sure what he wants to say. He closes his eyes and tells them the truth. Maybe a little bit of that can get them all to start moving forward. "If we continue fighting the Senju... if we keep fighting this war, we'll lose. And no, Izuna, I don't mean we are unable to defeat the Senju, I mean, regardless of whether we win or lose, we'll still lose."

There is a long silence, so long, Itachi was starting to fall asleep while waiting. Just as he's about to, Izuna says, softly, dejectedly, "Yeah..."

"I know we will," Madara says, just as softly. Itachi opens his eyes slightly. "I've known for a long time that this war was going to end in my lifetime," Madara continues, not turning his eyes from the moon. "I've known since I was a child that this war would end. I wasn't sure how, but I do believe now that the way to end this war has dropped onto my lap. I just... don't know what I'm going to do at this moment."

"I think... Hashirama was probably thinking the same thing," Izuna says, letting out a sigh. "I've always known he was strong, and dangerous. But I've never seen him like that before. He was really..."

"Scary?" Madara guesses, turning to look over his shoulder at Izuna. "Yeah. I've never seen anything like that, either. Hashirama is a bleeding heart. Always has been. But he's a family man. He loves families. Not just his own, but ours too. It's weird, unnatural and kind of creepy, but it's how he works. He will never forgive them for killing Marume, because it hurt us. He'll never forgive them for killing Kawarama, because it hurt him and his brothers. He'll destroy them for forcing us to continue killing each other for the sake of revenge. That's just not the type of person Hashirama is. He wants us all to live happily and love each other and it burns him deeply that all of this could have ended years ago."

There is a long pause, before Madara says, softer this time, "I can't sort out my own feelings about this yet I can read him like a book. What does that say?"

"You have a connection," Itachi says softly. "You and Izuna can ignore it all you want, but it's there. We can all see it, it doesn't have to be acknowledged by either of you for it to continue to exist." He closes his eyes and adjusts in his bed a bit, before falling still. Neither brother responded.

* * *

It was after Itachi's fifteenth birthday, a few months later, that Hashirama and Madara started meeting up. Madara was tight lipped about what they talked about, but they began meeting once every few weeks for about half a year. There was plenty of whispering and rumors, but not even the elders could sate their curiosity, for Madara didn't talk to them either. If he didn't tell Izuna or Itachi something, Madara didn't tell anyone.

But Izuna had a theory, as he usually does, but there was definitely some legitimacy to it. His theory was that Hashirama and Madara were doing their own investigations over Marume's and Kawarama's deaths. Itachi didn't see it as a stretch. Now that the tensions between both clans have settled down a bit, all the skirmishes between them stopped. There was a lot of awkward stare downs from both clans but no one moved, no one threatened or jabbed at one another. Madara and Hashirama, the clan leaders of both clans for once since the beginning of the war, have called a truce. No fighting, no taunting, nothing.

A strange, quiet peace settled over the clans.

"Itachi-sama," a cousin, Tawa, comes running up to Itachi, out of breath. Itachi stops walking through the camp to watch his younger cousin, double over for a moment to catch his breath. Once he does, he straightens up and looks at Itachi, "Um, Lord Madara has returned to the camp. He's called for you and Izuna-sama, as well as the elders to meet at the shrine at sunset."

"Thank you," Itachi says softly. Tawa bows before racing off, presumably looking for the next person on his list.

Itachi looks up at the sky. He's got some time before sunset. He quickly calculates how long it will take him to finish his errands and get to the shrine on time. He nods to himself and picks up the pace a bit. He checks on the perimeter and all the guards stations around camp, checks on their supplies for the week before running out of the village to get to the shrine.

Itachi's not late, he's never late, but it was close.

"That was a close one, otouto," Izuna says, playfully. "You perfect attendance record."

"Even if I had," Itachi says with a faint touch of mirth, "I wouldn't be late, I'll show up exactly when I intend to."

Izuna throws his head back for a laugh. "It's been long enough, about time your Uchiha arrogance has finally come in." He grins wickedly. "And no, that isn't code for anything."

Itachi shakes his head. "You says such things while in a shrine built by our ancestors. How unseemly, aniki."

Izuna rolls his eyes. "Yeah, right. Ancestors. Because we've not been occupying the Land of Fire for a few decades. It's actually been a couple hundred years. That's right. I'm always getting that wrong. You were always smarter than me when it came to our history."

Itachi huffs, amused. "Among other things," Itachi says, bemused. Izuna glares playfully. "But perhaps 'ancestors' was the wrong word to use. Or at least the phrasing was wrong. It's to represent our ancestors. So what, if it hasn't been around for hundreds of years, the fact remains the same. This is about honoring our family. Don't be so dirty."

Izuna laughs, glancing at the elders lined up on either side of the walkway to make sure they aren't listening. Izuna and Itachi would get a stern talking to if they had heard, but they are too busy talking amongst themselves, unhappy about being kept in the dark for as long as they have. Izuna turns his gaze back to Itachi, still grinning wickedly.

"I'm not dirty. She was clean, I swear it."

Itachi rolls his eyes. "Your love life isn't interesting to me, brother."

"Ah, but it is very interesting to me," Izuna says, leaning forward a bit, as if to make a secret out of this. "She was very... talented, dear brother. I dare say I'm in love."

Itachi rolls his eyes again. "And now you joke. I don't play around like you, brother, but I do know you well enough to know that you don't fall in love with one night stands. Your philandering is a way of killing time, you're not looking for a life partner yet. It's about pleasure, Izuna, not love."

Izuna snorts. "Welcome back, old soul. And who says anything about one night?" A wolfish smile. "But I suppose that's a story for another time, huh? It's a long, exciting one."

Itachi shakes his head. "Our poor mother is probably turning in her grave right now listening to your naughty insinuations. And saying it to her innocent little boy?" Itachi tisks. "You just bought a one way ticket to hell, brother."

Izuna laughs. "Ohh, you hurt me, Itachi."

"He won't be the only one," Madara says, flicking Izuna's forehead as he walks back. All the elders bow low to their clan leader. Itachi follows suit while Izuna touches the red spot on his forehead, glaring at Madara, before bowing his head respectfully before straightening up.

While Madara has no children, Izuna is his direct heir, and holds the spot to his right, while Itachi, the second heir, sits to Madara's left. Everyone straightens up when Madara lowers to his place at the end of the walkway, crossing his legs in front of him, while everyone else sits on their knees.

"I think you've kept us waiting long enough, Madara," Izuna says. "What's going on?"

Madara tilts his head to the side, long fringe covering most of his face falls away to reveal both eyes. "Thank you all for your patience, everyone. As I'm sure most of you have assumed, I've been meeting up with Hashirama in regards to the possible connection to the death of both of our brothers. At the time of death, Marume, was nine years old as was Kawarama."

Madara then goes into tell them about what he and Hashirama discovered. Unfortunately, the area where Kawarama died was so disturbed for years of dirt shifting and animal and human involvement that it was impossible to tell if there ever was a seal there, but talking to some of the people in his clan that found Kawarama, one of them did recall strange burn marks on the ground, but it was hard to tell any of it because of all of the blood, kunai and the threat of an attack at their backs. They had to get out of there, no time to really investigate.

Madara began to take up seal study, trying to see what Hashirama saw, clarify it for himself. While he's no where near advanced enough to be on Hashirama's level, having some understanding in seals has assisted his own theories. They were able to study the seal, as much as they could, they came to the understanding that the seal, even for a master sealer, would have taken him a decent amount of time to set the entire thing up. Even if there was a group of them. This wasn't a spur of the moment choice. It was well thought out, in places where both boys would be, but possibly not alone or they could have been with people that could have been fast enough to save them.

So, either it was meant to at least hurt them - death being preferable, and also the ultimate outcome - or their seal also had other traps set to prevent them from being overridden.

Madara and Hashirama spent many hours, talking, and arguing, about what their next step should be and finally they've come to an accord.

"In a week's time, we will be meeting one final time to sign a peace treaty. This will officially be the end of the Uchiha/Senju war," Madara says, looking around at everyone's face. Moving from one face to another. The elders turn toward each other, murmuring. Some were excited - finally an end to the war! - and some were worried - could a hundred year war finally come to an end that easily? It was all logical. Both sides of the spectrum. The relief but also the disbelief. All that both clans have known for over a hundred years has been fighting. Longer for the Uchiha.

Their conquest is nearing a hundred and fifteen years. A lot of battles. A lot of death. And finally, after all this time, all these deaths and betrayals, all the pain and suffering... it was all coming to an end. Finally.

Itachi bows his, closing his eyes, trying to imagine a world without war. Such a thing would never exist, but for now, the Uchiha's world will be without war. That is, until they find out who is was that killed Marume and Kawarama. Once they find out who that person, or that group was, then it will be the bloodiest war yet. Itachi doesn't condone war, or death, but a dark stain on his soul _shivers_ in anticipation.

Someone has to pay for Marume's death. And if no one will blame Itachi, then it'll have to be the people who set up the trap. Itachi wants to know the reason, wants them to explain to him clearly why they decided that innocent, kind Marume had to be the one to die, and once he knows, he will kill them. And for the first time ever, Itachi will take great pleasure in killing him or them.

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. Yukina. T: Aw, thank you so much!_

 _2\. chibitaku: I'm not set on the pairing yet, I'm open to suggestions._

 _3\. SprinkleLover: I know! I know sometimes I can make Hashirama a bit goofy and air-headed, but there is one thing I'll never take away from him. Hashirama is one of the most powerful shinobi in their history, even more powerful than Madara. Itachi is advancing very quickly, but I wanted to show that no matter what, Hashirama was still a force to be reckoned with. I showed a different side of him in this chapter. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but such a side won't be seen often, I don't think. Yep, Itachi's gotta grow up someday. XD For where I'm seeing this fic going, Itachi and Hashirama being together is a very real possibility. Thanks!_

 _4\. Guest 1: I wanted this story to be a little out there, and a part of that stems from it being yaoi. I hope to not turn you away from it, just for that purpose, but if it does, I understand. Thank you for reading so far and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :D_

 _5\. Guest 2: That's a very real possibility. I don't think there is any Hashirama/Itachi stories out there. If there are, I'd like to know. See how they would interpret such a relationship. :D_

 _6\. Guest 3: Thank you!_

 _7\. yvonna: Thank you!_

 _8\. Guest 4: Aww! Thank you so much! I'm starting to get interested in the pairing too. Haha! Thanks, again!_

 _9\. nessa11997: Thank you!_

 _10\. 1ItachiUchihagurl: Thank you! I hope you liked it!_

 _11\. Guest 5: Sorry for the wait!_

 _12\. GreenOnBlack: You're welcome! :D_

 _13\. ItachiPacifist: Yeah, I find it a lot harder to make him as pacifistic as I want based on his characteristics. A lot of Itachi's pacifistic nature stems from his own desire to not fight, not from actually not fighting. Even in my story, I want to convey that while Itachi doesn't want to fight, he will to save his clanmen. In a way, that's the only way for him to justify killing others, even thought he really doesn't want to. In some ways, Madara must sense this, because he's been keeping Itachi away. At least, that's kind of how I wanted to portray it. There is much more with Hashirama to come! Thanks!_

 _14\. Sora Light: Thanks! I hope you liked it!_

 _15\. childishbear98: Haha, thank you!_

 _16\. : I hope you liked it!_

 _17\. Kios: Sorry for the wait! And, I've been thinking about it. Why?_

 _18\. Kannareborn red: Sorry for the wait! Thanks for reading!_

 _19\. Guest 6: Yes, sorry for the wait. DX_

 _20\. Guest 7: Hmmm. XD_

 _21\. izanami: I hope you liked it!_

 _22\. TobiMada: Yeah. :C_


	6. Pain

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait! I really love hearing what everyone has to say! I still am not solid on the pairings yet and would love to hear what ya'll got to say! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the OC's I create.**

 **Warnings: Language, OOCness, death.**

 **Word Count: 5,548**

It's a little weird no longer fighting the Senju. They would stare at each other awkwardly as they passed each other during patrols, but now that the peace treaty was signed, they all just awkwardly wave at one another and avoid eye contact. In a few weeks time, both the Uchiha and the Senju would intermix their clans and move to their new home, some place Hashirama found. Or was it Madara? Or were they together? Itachi didn't know. He didn't remember. So much has been happening that it's hard to keep up on all of the facts, especially said in passing.

Itachi is happy that the fighting is over. When the treaty was signed, there was this huge weight that had been lifted from his shoulders and chest. Itachi wasn't really even aware that the pressure was there until it was released and it felt like his entire body sagged in relief.

Everyone was happy. A tentative, wary happiness, but happy nonetheless. And Itachi wanted to take a moment - even if it was just one - to sit back and really appreciate the fact that the killing will pause. Even if _that_ is just a moment. It would be worth it.

But, amidst the happiness and quiet celebrations, something has begun probing at the back of Itachi's mind. Something he wasn't sure if he realized was going on while he has been focused on this war, or the ending of this war, and getting revenge for his brother. It wasn't actually a probing at the back of his head, but a slightly painful throbbing in his stomach. Not like a stomach ache, but like he was punched in the gut and is still feeling the residual affects.

It wasn't anything that couldn't be ignored. So Itachi did.

"This is weird," Izuna mutters, making sideway glances over at the Senju. His teeth clench a bit, jaw working, before he looks away. He lets out a long winded sigh and all Itachi could do was stare at him in quiet contemplation.

"Madara will kill you," Itachi says quietly, sticking close to his brother.

Izuna glances down at him, frowning with an eyebrow raised. "For what?"

"Giving the Senju the evil eye," Itachi says simply. "You know how much he wants this to work. Besides, that, Tobirama is watching you like a hawk. He must know how trustworthy you are." He meant it as a joke - a weak one, but still a joke - but Izuna just frowned deeper at that and sighed again.

"I know, about Madara, and I'm not going to fuck it up. Not unless someone makes a move first," he mutters. For the sake of Izuna not getting a royal beat down by Madara for those quiet antagonizing words, Itachi pretended not to hear that. They just continue walking a few minutes in silence, listening to the sound of the two mixed clans walking together to their new home before Izuna says, "And about Tobirama. He can watch me all he wants, and then kiss my ass afterward for all I care."

Itachi rolls his eyes. "We are allied now," he says simply, "so you're going to have to deal with it. And as for Tobirama, stop glaring at his clansmen and I'm sure he'll stop staring at you."

"I'm not glaring," Izuna says stiffly. "Just... observing."

"Is that what they call it now a days?" Itachi murmurs. Izuna scoffs loudly, nudging Itachi with his elbow.

"Fine. Sorry. I'm done." Izuna sighs again, dark eyes scanning the forest around them.

"Lord Izuna, Lord Itachi," an Uchiha appears next to them. "Lord Madara is asking for the two of you to go up to the front of the group." Izuna nods, waving the clansman away. Itachi glances over at Tobirama through the crowd to see a Senju talking with him. He nods and sends him away too, then, as if he sensed someone staring, turns to look at Itachi, locking eyes with him.

For a moment, Itachi wondered if he was going to glare at him too, but instead Tobirama tipped his head a bit in greeting. Itachi nods back before Izuna brushes past him to move to the front of the group. Itachi follows obediently. The three younger brothers meet the two eldest at the front of the pack, and a moment later, Itama is there too.

"What's up, Hashirama?" Itama asks, nudging Tobirama a bit in greeting. Tobirama glances down at him and then looks back up at Hashirama.

Madara and Hashirama were walking side by side and it was a sight to see. Neither wore their battle armor, they traded their battle garbs for haori and kosode, both branded on the back with their own family clan symbols. Both revealed only when long hair - respectfully brown and pitch black - sway out of the way while their walking. They stood far enough away from one another that they wouldn't brush, even with their walking, but close enough to reach out and touch one another without difficulty.

"We're getting close now," Hashirama says, looking at the four younger brothers from over his right shoulder. "I wanted all of you to be the first ones to see it with us." He is practically bouncing up and down in his excitement and Itachi finds it endearing. He's like a child, finally being able to show his little brothers, best friend, and best friend's little brothers his cool fort and was bursting at the seams.

"I just know you guys will love it!" Hashirama continues. "We're close now."

"Yes, yes," Madara says, placatingly.

Hashirama beams at Madara, happy that his friend wasn't just brushing him off. So easily happy, such a pure being, Itachi admired that. Hashirama truly was a force to be reckoned with. His generosity and kindness is something that endears Itachi greatly. His easy, happy smile is something he's willing to share with everyone. His brothers and the Uchiha alike. Itachi can see while Madara was having a difficult time not only fighting Hashirama but denying him too.

Hashirama was a force to reckoned with, whether he knew it or not.

Hashirama is practically bouncing as they walk. Itachi could almost see the flowers and butterflies fluttering around Hashirama's head. It was kind of cute. He was so sweet and innocent. Itachi knew that the futures of the Uchiha and Senju were safe in his hands. It didn't appear as though Hashirama had a bad bone in his body. He wanted everyone to be happy and he was willing to open his arms and let the person running at him with a knife, keep charging until they're right on top of him before he finally defends himself.

Itachi hopes that this relationship between the Uchiha and Senju transcends time and space. After the years of war and hate between them, Itachi thought that they could all years a couple hundred years of peace. Or, at least, for as long as they could last.

* * *

Itachi was breathless.

He stood beside his two brothers, and the three Senju brothers, all staring at the land that Hashirama and Madara had chosen to be the location of their new home with eyes wide in amazement. It was at the base of a mountain that was thankfully relatively smooth faced toward the village and it was heavily wooded where the homes would be. They could see for miles, take in the patches of land not occupied by trees - which were few and far between - multiple rivers that ran close by. It really was an ideal place. There was a lot of natural defenses and usable landmarks for them to use.

"Wow!" Itama says, face lit up brightly. He looks up at a positively glowing Hashirama. "Brother, this place is perfect!"

"It's hardly 'perfect'," Izuna says simply, making Itama deflate slightly. "But," he says slowly, after a moment of consideration, "it is more ideal than I thought we would have."

"I will take that as a compliment," Hashirama says gleefully. Itachi doubted much could bring the Senju patriarch down. Madara glared at Izuna.

"Izuna, don't be a brat."

"What?" Izuna asks indignant. "I'm just saying-"

"I know what you are saying," Madara snaps. "And you're being a brat about it."

"I'm not," Izuna defends himself.

Madara shakes his head and rolls his eyes, no longer wanting to deal with his little brother. He turns to Hashirama instead, ignoring the glare Izuna sent his way, "Alright, Hashirama, should we get started?"

Hashirama, with the brightest, stupidest smile on his face, nods swiftly. "Yes!"

Itachi, who was looking down the face of the mountain, shaking his head at how steep. "Damn," he mutters. "We are going to have to be careful. An average person would survive a drop like that." As Itachi turns to look at his brothers, he catches Hashirama launch himself off the side of the mountain and free fall to the ground. Itachi was surprised. "Uh, wait!"

Hashirama laughed jubilantly as he descended, not even slightly aware of the danger. As he neared closer to the earth, a block of wood jutted out of the ground and rushed to greet him. He landed on it easily and jumped the rest of the way to safety in the nearest tree. After a moment of just staring dumbly, Itachi looks over at the other four men standing with him. Madara and Izuna both looked shocked, Tobirama's eyes were as wide as saucers, and Itama looked faint. All had taken to standing dangerously close to edge with Itachi.

"Fuck," Madara grumbles, rubbing his face irritably. "That fucking, suicidal Senju!"

"Dammit it, Hashirama," Tobirama mutters, glaring now.

Madara half turns to return to the path they used to get up there, it was a hell of a lot safer when a voice stopped him.

"Hey Madara!" Hashirama calls. "Are you scared?"

Madara's right eye twitches, teeth clenching.

"Please don't," Itachi murmurs, eyes still wide.

"Seriously," Izuna says.

"I'm not," Madara growls pulled together tightly.

"Good," Izuna says, shoulders sagging a bit in relief. Itachi's too. Madara goes to take another step when he's stopped again.

"Don't worry, Madara!" Hashirama calls. "I would be scared too! It's fine!"

"Shit," Madara growls.

"Shit," Izuna says, hands thrown up into the air.

"Madara," Itachi starts but it's too late. Madara spins around, right eye twitching like mad and leaps off the side of the mountain. Itachi closes his eyes, letting out a long winded sigh, trying to ignore the fact that Izuna has stopped breathing next to him, waiting for their elder brother to either become a splatter on the ground or make it into safety.

Itachi sucks in a deep breath through his mouth and slowly lets it out from his nose. "I think I'm going to keep aging prematurely if this continues."

Izuna waits a few moments to see Madara land onto the same block of wood before launching into the woods after his childhood friend before turning slowly toward Itachi, finally let out his breath, making Itachi open his dark eyes and lock onto his older brother. "Well, otouto, it looks like you'll look twenty at sixteen. I don't see those two dumbshits stopping their antics anytime soon, unfortunately," Izuna says, annoyed, but relieved that Madara was safe.

Itachi rubs his forehead. "Shit."

* * *

Itachi curls up onto his side in his new home with his two brothers in their own respective rooms in what will soon be their new village. It was strange, no longer sharing a room with his brothers. Sometimes, during the night, Itachi would sit awake, listening to the sound of his brothers' sleeping breath, just somehow reminding himself that they were alive and there with him. They weren't with Marume. They were still very much part of the real world with him.

Itachi wasn't completely and utterly alone. Not like how he felt.

Now that the Uchiha and Senju finally have peace, Itachi can relax, if only a bit, and turn his focus somewhere else: finding the people who killed his brother and killing them, swiftly and painfully. Not slowly, never slowly, that would give them the chance to get away, rationalize their actions. Itachi doesn't want regret. He wants to hear them beg, and then fall silent.

Permanently.

It was this sickness, this coil of evil that has settled in his chest that made Itachi so disgusting to himself. No human being should think this way. It just wasn't right. It wasn't the things someone should think about around the only beautiful things in this world. In some ways, Itachi figured that was why he didn't remember his past beyond that day. Something happened to him that day that can never un-happen. It isn't something that he ever regretted, either. It didn't take him long to come to such a realization.

Itachi doesn't need a past, because he's not going to have a future. He doesn't need any of them. Those memories, he means. He would liked to have had them, but ultimately, he had most of what he wanted and needed.

His brothers. And maybe Hashirama too. Yes, he would protect that innocence too.

It was the least Itachi could have done. Marume would never be replaced in his life, but it would be easier to cope with his loss, once he has been avenged. And Itachi will do so using the eyes Marume gave him. That way, he's never lost, or forgotten.

Itachi pulls the covers more around his shoulders and curl up a bit more. His stomach still throbs a bit painfully, but it doesn't keep him awake. Once he's pushed his thoughts from his mind, he was easily able to slip into a pained, nightmare filled, slumber.

In his dreams, he saw death. So much death. Men, women, children of all ages. No one was immune. Their blood would splatter against the walls and floors, painting all of the decorum a crimson color. Their screams are loud, shrill, and cut off abruptly. Some would try and fight back, rushing toward the threat with the intent to kill but they were unsuccessful. They were cut down like nothing.

The world was a mixture of red and black and white. The moon is blood red behind the massacre. It was the world of Tsukuyomi.

Itachi shot up in his bed, eyes flying around the room, looking for the person who put him in the genjutsu when he realized he was alone, and that he wasn't in a genjutsu, it was just a dream. He was still in the real world.

Shooting pain through his abdomen makes Itachi tentatively lower back down into his bed, a soft whine of pain slipping through his clenched teeth. After a few, slow, pained breaths, the pain wanes into a more manageable level and he closes his eyes again.

* * *

"Where are you going?" Itama asks, stopping Itachi before he could reach the forest.

Itachi turns to the youngest Senju brother, slowly. "I'm going back to the Uchiha camp to make sure nothing was left behind," Itachi says simply. "I should be back before nightfall."

"Does Madara know?" Itama asks, brown eyes wide and innocent.

"Yes," Itachi says. "Or, at least, he would if I had told him." Itama looks confused. "He's going to be helping construction all day today. I don't need to be around for it. Besides, this is something that needs to be done at some point and I'm just doing it sooner than expected." Itachi shrugs before turning around and continuing toward the forest.

"Would you like company?" Itama offers awkwardly.

Itachi tilts his head a bit, eyebrow raised. "No," he says softly. "Don't worry about me."

Itama looks around, uncomfortable. "I'm not sure that we should all be separated right now. I mean, this alliance is new..." he trails off, not seeming to know how to finish his thought.

Itachi tilts his head to the side in confusion. "Do you suspect the Uchiha of being unfaithful to the alliance?" Itachi's voice is flat, slightly irritated.

"No!" Itama says quickly and by the earnest and surprised look on his face, Itachi can tell he means it. This boy, while a little older than himself, was as easy to read as a childhood book. He and Hashirama shared the curse of a telling face - something Tobirama didn't. Itachi could never seem to tell, easily, what that man was thinking about.

The slight twinge of hostility that was bristling at the corners of Itachi's mind, slips away easily. His shoulders relax. "Then what is it?" Itachi asks, blinking slowly. He was running out of time. He wanted to be back before nightfall. He wanted to make sure that he was able to make it back before either of his brothers realized he was gone. They would throw a fit if they knew.

Itama rubs his left arm bashfully. "I just... I thought that the whole point of this was for all of us to get to know each other... help build a future..."

Itachi nods. "It is," he says simply, then smiles, faintly. "And in order to be able to build on toward the future, we must first bury the past..." Itachi says softly, staring into Itama's brown eyes with his deep black one. At first, the two-toned haired young man seemed confused, his eyebrows raising up, but then he realized what Itachi was saying and his eyes harden in understanding before softening once more.

"Do you want someone to come with you..? I mean, it doesn't have to be me... I can... you know, find someone to go with I'm sure someone would love to... I mean.." Itachi holds up a hand and Itama pauses in his stuttering.

"I will be fine," Itachi says softly, before he turns and runs into the forest in the direction of his clan's old camp.

Thankfully, he was able to make it back to their old camp in a couple of hours. He was tired and in pain, but he could ignore such things and was able to do what he told Itama that he was going to do. He managed to pick up a few lost items along the way and back at camp, sealing them away to distribute back at their new home, before setting out to do what he originally wanted to when he came back up here: go to the place Marume died.

It was getting late and Itachi is beginning to accept the fact that he's probably going to have two angry older brothers to return to, but Itachi has to go. He hasn't been back to this place since he showed it to his brothers and father. He stayed up all night last night, through the nightmares and his own thoughts, wondering about whether he should go back to the place that Marume died and see if it would somehow give them a clue about what more happened that day, or not. And when he woke up, in pain, tired as all hell and lonely, he decided to go.

Izuna and Madara kept him in the village for the most part after their father died. Itachi's not sure why and can only theorize, but he has to see this place again. If anything there helps them find the people or person who killed Marume, and Kawarama Senju, then Itachi will go back to his brothers and accept their anger with his head held high.

It didn't take long for Itachi to find the place where Marume died, it had been ingrained into his memory from all those years ago. It hadn't changed much; being trees and bushes and grass, but at the same time, it was different. It was more over grown, greener and there was no sign that Marume and Itachi had ever been there. It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Their pain, he means. Itachi can kick and scream about how unfair life is to him until his face is blue, but the world will continue to turn, no matter how he feels.

Itachi stops, the place where he remembered Marume stood before he was killed, and looks around slowly. There wasn't really anything the jumped out at Itachi as something significant. In coming here, Itachi didn't expect to find any form of closure for his brother's dead, but for some reason he expected to find _something._ There is signs of someone digging around here recently, most like Madara and Hashirama in their investigation, but other than that, there's nothing.

Large, pitch black eyes would scan the area again and again, moving bushes aside, touching scars on the trees, hoping to find something - anything! - but like before, nothing jumped out at him. It just looked like a section of the forest. If Itachi didn't know any better, he would say that there is nothing all that special about this place. It has no real significance to anyone but him and his family.

And maybe the Senju too now.

Itachi lets out a long, drawn out sigh, rubbing the heel of his right hand against his eyes. He pushes hard before pulling back, seeing spots. Itachi sits down in the grass, in the middle of the little clearing and looks up at the sky peaking down at him through the tall trees. Itachi isn't sure how long he spent, staring up at the sky, watching as the mid-afternoon light turned to early evening, before a twig snapping somewhere in front of him, made his chin drop level to the ground, black eyes focused on the forest.

He scans the trees until he spots three figures moving closer to him slowly. The front one is holding his hands up in surrender. Itachi slowly reaches back into his pouch, wrapping his fingers around a kunai and pulls it out, keeping it low so it doesn't glitter off the waning light and alert them that he's armed. He watches them closes as they approach, only counting three. He doesn't climb to his feet yet, just waits patiently.

The three men emerge from the forest, the first dressed up nicely in fine kimonos and jewelry while the other two were decked in armor - obviously guards. The first man's hands are still being held up, rings on his fingers sparkle against the sunlight. His smile is tired and forced.

"Are you... an Uchiha?" the man asks.

Itachi doesn't respond right away, studying the men in front of him for any symbol from where they come from. The first man had nothing, but the two guards had the Land of Fire's crest on their chest plates. But they weren't samurai, or at least they weren't wearing their armor. This man must be from the capital, though, and either these guards are just family guards or samurai not in service to the Daimyo.

"Why are you looking for the Uchiha?" Itachi asks, standing slowly, eyes dragged over to the man in the center. The guards tense up slightly, watching him closely. Itachi's eyes flicker over to them, before returning to the man.

The man looks around them, as if the answer would just come out of thin air. The man looks down at Itachi and smiles, strained again. "Are you part of the Uchiha clan? Or the Senju? I can never remember which one has the dark features."

"The Uchiha, sir," the guard on the left says, not taking his eyes off Itachi.

"Ah!" The man says, smiling a little brighter. "Then you are an Uchiha?"

Itachi blinks slowly, trying to decide if this man was for real. "Yes," he admits, since it wasn't really a secret. "What do you want from the Uchiha?"

The man folds his hands neatly in front of him, seemingly proud for some reason Itachi can't figure out. He glances over at the guards, letting out a little relief-filled laugh. "Oh, good, this is good," the man says, looking back at Itachi. "My master wanted me to locate either the Uchiha or the Senju clans. We had word that they were fighting around here, but we had yet to find anyone."

"That's because they are both gone," Itachi says simply. "Both clans moved on. Now, what can we do for you?"

"Ah, yes," the man says. "I am Taku, servant of the young lord Gayumu. He wishes to speak with either the Uchiha or the Senju clan about possible work in the near future and since we were unable to find any Senju at all, I suppose it'll have to be with the Uchiha!" The man laughs, probably thinking this is some kind of joke. His guards shift, uncomfortably and Itachi would have had to been daft to have not felt the slap of his words from all the way over there.

Itachi debated on just leaving them there or not. He puts his kunai away, deciding that they aren't a threat - not really. Not with an ignoramus like this leading them, even if he does speak for someone else. He has either spent too much time in the capital, or not enough time with common folk. Either way, he was getting on Itachi's nerves.

After a few moments of staring at the grinning buffoon in front of him, Itachi turns on his heel and walks away.

"Ah, wait! Uchiha-san! Please!" The man shuffles after Itachi, much to the younger boy's annoyance. Instead of slowing down, he picks up pace, finding his element in the forest and moving swiftly through the familiar territory. Itachi stops after escaping the forest, feeling bad for finding amusement in making this obviously pampered man chase him around, working up a sweat.

Itachi turns a bit, looking over his shoulder at the heavily breathing man from the capital, who struggled to keep up, and was looking at Itachi as if he was nothing more than filth beneath his feet. He manages to school his features, even though he's obviously ruffled and unhappy about the game of cat and mouse they were just playing, but hides it quickly under a strained smile. His two guards are significantly less flustered, able to keep pace easier than the royal was. Or, servant, perhaps is the better word.

"Sorry," Itachi says, half looking over at the man, "but neither the Uchiha or the Senju are taking missions at the moment."

The man grits his teeth for a moment before saying, overly saccharine, "I'm terribly sorry to hear that, but my lord insists on a meeting with either, or."

Itachi turns now to face the man completely. "Then I suppose we're both a little disappointed in this meeting, I'm afraid."

His smile twitches slightly. "And why is that, may I ask?"

"We just forged an alliance between the Uchiha and Senju," Itachi says. It doesn't matter if they know, the whole land will learn soon enough, it's just a matter of time. And anything to get this weirdo away from him. "We are currently building a new home and can't diverge our attention from that at the moment. While we would love to have your patronage, we currently can not do anything for you for an unforeseeable amount of time. Apologies," Itachi says, then turns again to leave when the man calls out to him again to stop him.

"Wait! But where can we find you and ask your clan leaders?" the man asks, annoyed. "I can't go back to my lord with nothing." He pushes loose strands of dark hair that fell into disarray when he ran after Itachi.

Itachi wanted to tell this man that his problems weren't any of his business, but this was a potential client for the future and if they were going to build a village with the two clans living in it, then they would need money and that didn't just come out of nowhere. Itachi turns back toward the man, contemplating how to go about this.

"Tell your lord what I told you, if he is insistent on meeting, then come back here, one months time at noon, someone will either be able to take his request, or a clan leader will be able to speak to him. That is what I can offer you. I am sorry that you have shown up at a bad time but there isn't much more I can do at the moment," Itachi says, then bows a bit, respectfully, even if he felt anything but that for this man before leaving. His was high-born, pretentious and it annoyed Itachi to no end.

He escapes before the man can say anything more. He heads back into his clan's old camp and leans against one of the buildings, rubbing his forehead. He's having a splitting headache pulling at all corners of his head. That on top of the pain in his gut - whether that's the pain he's been feeling or the fact that he hasn't eaten all day, he doesn't know - has left him irritable and tired. And it looks like he's not going to be able to make it back to the village before nightfall, earning him the wrath of his two brothers. What a day.

Itachi rubs his forehead, trying to somehow sooth the pulsing ache beneath his skull. Itachi sighs, turns toward his new home and heads in that direction.

* * *

As expected, it's dark out by the time he makes it back to the new camp. A few homes were built already, but there is quite a few tents set up under wood structures to protect them from the rain that started coming down about an hour ago. One of the structures was large with a bunch of benches and a fire pit beneath it, had people there, all eating and talking. Since there was no where else to really go, the Uchiha and Senju were forced to try and mingle with one another.

Itachi snuck close, scanning the figures for his brothers when he felt a heavy hand settle on his shoulder and sense the danger coming from it. Itachi takes a moment to catch his breath before looking over to see Madara, face twisted up in rage.

"Brother..." Itachi starts but Madara cuts him off by grabbing onto his arm and yanking him away, out of the rain.

Madara practically throws him against a nearby tree and presses close, red eyes spinning to life in his anger. Itachi flinches in pain but says nothing, having expected this reaction. Itachi stares up at Madara's spinning red eyes as the older brother tries to control his rage.

"I..." Madara starts, then doesn't seem to be able to find the words. "I don't know what to say! Where the hell were you? Itama said... I thought that..." His grip on Itachi's arms tighten painfully. His shaky voice betrays his worry. "I though... someone got you..." he says harshly. Then his eyes narrow in anger again. "What the hell is wrong with you? This alliance is new, do you have any idea how shady it is having you sneak off so early in the morning to god knows where? And I knew nothing about it! _Hashirama_ had to be the one to ask me where you were before..." Madara's lips press together and his eyes fade to black again. "Don't do that, do you hear me, Itachi?"

Itachi bows his head in submission. "I'm sorry, aniki. I thought..." he closes his eyes. "No, it doesn't matter. I was wrong. I'm sorry, brother. I didn't mean to scare you."

Madara looks away for a moment, both of them trying to ignore the fear in the older man's eyes and the streaks of fear across his face. He was probably secretly rounding up clansmen to look for Itachi as he returned to the village. Thankfully Itachi returned before the search party could be sent out.

"I'm sorry, Madara," Itachi says again, softly.

Madara blinks a few times, trying to force the fearful tears away before wrapping his arms around Itachi and holding him tightly. "Don't _ever_ do that again," Madara hisses in his ear. "Never leave," Madara whispers, so softly Itachi doubts it was really for him to hear. " _Never_."

Itachi nods, snuggling into his brother's warmth. "I promise," he whispers. His gut is throbbing in pain, in sync with his head.

Why did that feel like a lie?

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. Yukina. T: Thanks! Sorry for the wait!_

 _2\. chibitaku: Haha, noted. Thanks!_

 _3\. Bloodstained Element: Yes, I understand what you mean! Haha. And thank you! That is so nice!_

 _4\. Duesal Bladesinger: Thank you. :D_

 _5\. Kios Denlion: Yes, Itachi is bae. I'm really enjoying the idea of Itachi and Hashirama being the pairing but I don't know for certain yet. Thanks!_

 _6\. just yuki: Thank you! I think they'll be cute, too. And don't worry about the Uzumaki, they have a part to play, and it's nothing to fear. ;D_

 _7\. Guest: Thank you!_

 _8\. TobiMada: No, after his battle with Hashirama, sending him into Tsukuyomi, he hasn't been on the field since. And you can suggest, actually. I am starting to like the idea of that pair. :D_

 _9\. DeadGirl15: No, your English is fine. I kind of understand what you're saying. We'll just have to see how it plays out, neh? :D_


	7. The Dream

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone! So sorry about the long wait! I have not forgotten about this story! I love all the attention given to this story, so thank you all! I like reading all that you have to say! Sorry, it's really late here so I'm going to go to bed now! Let me know what you think! Enjoy! Goodnight! Check out the poll on my page!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the OC's I create.**

 **Warnings: Language, OOCness, death.**

 **Word Count: 5,411**

"They're in the village?" Itachi asks, mildly interested.

Itama nods as the two walk toward the meeting room delegated to where the Uchiha and Senju clans could hold personal clan meetings and where they could come together to discuss the future of their new village. Right now it was being used to meet a new client.

"It's four guards and a young lord, from what I hear," Itama says.

"What about a pretentious servant?" Itachi asks coyly, not really interested in the stuck up royal in the slightest. Itama looks over at Itachi, curiously. Itachi shrugs his shoulders at the unasked question. "It doesn't matter," Itachi says simply. "I was just asking to ask."

Itama smiles a bit, obviously not understanding. "Okay," he says.

They walk toward the meeting building with two guards stationed out front. They look at them mistrustfully as they approach. But one Uchiha and one Senju guard on either side of them both quickly aside, letting the two heir's pass. The guards don't have much choice but to let them go through. Itachi and Itama both remove their shoes outside the door, next to the other pairs of shoes before walking in. Itachi, being the last in, closes the door softly behind himself.

"Ah," Hashirama was saying, "sorry about the wait, my lord. These were the two we were waiting for."

"I am Itama Senju," Itama says, tipping his head respectfully to the young lord sitting on the opposite side of a long wooden table in the center of the room from Madara, Hashirama, Tobirama and Izuna. Itama takes his place on the far side of the room from the door, next to Tobirama. Itachi lowers himself to the spot on the other side of Izuna, tucking his feet neatly beneath himself before slowly raising his eyes to the people in front of them.

There is two guards, the same ones Itachi met the month before, against the wall behind the same servant that Itachi spoke to at that time too. The young lord sat next to the servant, dressed in a finer attire with beads around his neck, rings on his fingers and short brown hair, long enough to be slicked back from his large green eyes. His face is thin and pale. His nose is straight and his jaw line is prominent. He's a handsome young man. He's got to be around Izuna's age.

His eyes is locked on Itachi, wide and somehow wondrous, like he was seeing something beautiful and other worldly before him.

Itachi tips his head a bit in greeting. "My lord. I am Itachi Uchiha," Itachi says softly, eyes flickering over to the servant, who was frowning unhappily about seeing Itachi in this important meeting with them. He lifts his chin a bit in a silent scoff. "I am Madara Uchiha's youngest brother." The servant's face twitches slightly. Itachi's eyes slide back over to the young lord, still staring at him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my lord."

Gayumu holds his hand out for Itachi to take. After a split second, Itachi takes it, shaking his hand slowly. "I am Gayumu," the young lord says, smiling charmingly. "And I must say, Uchiha-san, you are by far the most beautiful creature I have ever seen."

All the heads snap in their direction, eyes wide. Itachi could feel Izuna tense next to him. Itachi blinks a few times, confused. "I believe you... misheard me, my lord," Itachi says slowly. "I am no girl. I am Madara's little brother. Not his little sister."

Gayumu smiles, pleased. "I heard you, Uchiha Itachi. But beauty knows nothing of gender or race or family." His hand squeezes Itachi's a bit. "And you are beautiful, if I may be so bold."

"It..." Itachi says slowly, not sure how to respond. His face heats up a bit, forcing himself to look away. "It is... kind of you to say such things, but I am undeserving of such words. I... thank you for them, though."

Gayumu pats Itachi's hand softly before finally letting him go. The air around them is tense and greatly uncomfortable.

"I am a man that enjoys beautiful things, Uchiha Itachi," Gayumu says simply. "There is no need to thank me. I heard rumors of the beauty within the Uchiha clan and was thankfully not disappointed. So really, I should be thanking you."

Itachi runs a hand through his hair, embarrassed, as he glances over at the young lord through his thin carpet of black hair. He doesn't respond to the young lord's words, not sure he knows how. No one has ever spoken to him like that before. It's embarrassing, especially around his brothers and the Senju brothers too. Itachi was expecting much from this exchange, but this was not it.

"Sorry about that," Gayumu says simply, smiling toward a shocked Madara and Hashirama. "What were you saying?"

"Uhh," Hashirama says slowly, eyes wide as saucers, looking over at Madara to see the shocked older brother of Itachi, unable to form a single coherent thought as he processed what just happened. Hashirama shakes his head, filing away this incident to think about later and delicately returns to talking about business. He keeps sending looks over at the Uchiha patriarch, to see him going from complete shock to anger. Thankfully, Madara has tact. His eyes narrowed and his expression turned stony but other than that, he didn't have any other outward change. That, and he didn't talk for the remainder of the meeting.

Once the young lord and his entourage left the village, escorted out by the two sets of three siblings, they all returned to the meeting room and sat down. The Senju brothers sat on the opposite side of the Uchiha brothers, the side that the young lord sat in not ten minutes prior. Madara made sure not to sit on that side, obviously feeling more free to be pissed now that their guests are gone.

"I hate him," Madara says, finally speaking after being quiet for a good portion of an hour.

"Brother..." Itachi says, looking over at Madara from the oldest brother's left side. "There is no reason to be like that..."

Madara glares at him. "No, Itachi! Did you see the way he looked at you? How he talked to you? I... I can't believe..." he looks away, eyebrows pulled together tightly.

"I'm not bothered..." Itama says slowly, drawing the rest of their eyes to him. "I mean, it was uncomfortable for all of us, I'm sure. I can't imagine how you felt, Itachi, but I wasn't bother by him being attracted to Itachi..." He hesitates, as if wondering how to explain himself. "What bothered me... was how _open_ he was about it."

Tobirama crosses his arms over his chest and closes his eyes. "I can agree with Itama. While attractions to men is... difficult in our society to swallow, there are people out there that do hold such thoughts and feelings and while I agree with Itama about not being bother by his sexual orientation, it's... uncommon to be so open about desiring someone of the same gender. It's especially audacious of him to do it here, in front of people he'll be working with in the future and the object of his affections' older brothers are here too. It's... strange."

Madara crosses his arms over his chest and glares at the table in front of him. "It's uncalled for. It's unprofessional."

Hashirama tries to smile, but it's wane and strained. "I... agree, I suppose."

Madara's glare rises to Hashirama. "What the hell do you mean by that?" Hashirama holds up his hands in surrender.

"Peace, brother, I didn't mean to insinuate anything by that," Hashirama says. "What I meant is it's different with us. We, and that includes yourself, see Uchiha all day every day. We have since we were children. Before I ever met an Uchiha, in private or on the battlefield, I was told of your ethereal beauty," Hashirama says placatingly.

Madara's glare softens slightly. "What do you mean by that?"

Hashirama leans forward onto the table, resting his forearms on it. "Uchiha are beautiful people, brother. Being an Uchiha it's hard for you to see, but that's how people see you. I can understand how he felt, somehow. I understand that it was out of place and unprofessional for him to say that, but it can be overwhelming to see an Uchiha for the first time."

"We're Uchiha," Izuna says sharply. "He reacted normally to us."

"Not so true," Tobirama says, opening his eyes. "He was paying close attention to both of you as well, it was only until Itachi arrived. He just wasn't as vocal about his intrigue with you as he was with Itachi."

"Lucky me..." Itachi mumbles, but he's not sure how he feels about it. He was embarrassed and a bit uncomfortable, but all of that could easily be chalked up to the fact that no one has ever show such interest in him before. He was always just Madara and Izuna's little brother. Sure, he made his name amongst his clan and the Senju too, but Itachi didn't care about any of that. His entire life, for as long as he can remember, has been about his brothers. Their happiness, their lives, their survival.

That was all that mattered to Itachi. This was an interesting moment in his life, but ultimately nothing will come of it. Itachi has no interest in seeking out love, especially with someone who isn't a shinobi and so far away from his brothers. Itachi has to be with them and protect them until they no longer need him. Only then will his usefulness be spent.

"I just can't believe he said that in front of us," Izuna says, shaking his head. "Where does he think he is? This isn't the damn capitol where you can go around being as fruity as you want. We may be out in the sticks, but we still have social norms and common decency." Madara vicious scratches at the back of his head, obvious angry and upset but agreeable with Izuna's words.

"I perhaps wouldn't use 'fruity' to describe him," Tobirama says simply, "and would advice against saying such a thing in his presence, but still..." He sighs, unfolding his arms and placing them behind himself before leaning back against them.

"I won't," Izuna says drolly. "I'm not an idiot."

Itama puts his hands up. "Tobirama wasn't saying that. It's just... we're all brothers here. I would be protective if someone was hitting on one of my brothers, man or woman," he says, placatingly. Hashirama nods in agreement.

"It wasn't a jab at intellect, Izuna, Tobirama was just expressing concern over..." Hashirama squints at the ceiling over Izuna's head, unseeing the annoyed glare the middle Uchiha brother was sending him as he searches for the words. "I am already naturally protective of my little brothers. As the eldest it's my job to be weary of all that come into their lives. I wouldn't be happy about someone disregarding me and having so much attention aimed at either Tobirama or Itama. I worry over possibly saying something unfavorable to them out of protective nature for my brothers rather than be conscientious of our need for this man and his missions."

Izuna looks like he wants to argue, maybe pick a fight with Tobirama, but Madara sighs, rubbing at his forehead and speaks before Izuna can. "Perhaps you are right, Hashirama. This may be a different situation had it been Itama."

Hashirama nods, smiling without mirth. "Yes, I probably would have been as upset as you had that been the case."

"But it wasn't me," Itama says softly, brown eyes looking at the side of his eldest brother's face.

"It was Itachi," Izuna says, eyes flickering over to his baby brother.

"And the two of you are already fiercely protective of him to begin with, when no one has their attention on him," Tobirama puts out, looking over at Itachi for the first time since they came back to the room.

Itachi had just been sitting back, listening to them quietly for the majority of the time since they came back. He locks eyes with Tobirama and tilts his head to the side slightly. "Yes?"

"How do you feel about this?" Tobirama asks.

"We don't have to send you on any of these missions or ask you to come to the meetings if it makes you uncomfortable," Hashirama says kindly, eyebrows pulled together tightly.

Itachi is endeared once more for the Senju clan leader, offering him a faint smile. "I'm fine. I was caught off guard, but wasn't insulted in any way by his words."

"Itachi," Madara says, turning toward Itachi and putting a hand on either of his shoulders, making the youngest Uchiha brother turn his entire body toward his brother, "there is no need for you to attempt to be strong. You don't have to try and placate us. If he makes you uncomfortable you don't have to have anything to do with him."

Itachi pulls Madara's hands from his shoulders and holds them in his. "I'm fine, brother. I'm by no means delicate. Besides, holding his affections could benefit us. He'll be more willing to send missions our way so long as he holds affections for me." Itachi shrugs his shoulders. "Logically, it's smart to utilize his interest in me to help us build our village, both physically and reputation-wise."

Hashirama's eyebrows pull together tightly. "What are you saying, Itachi?"

Itachi shrugs his shoulders again. "Raising this village from the ground up is going to take a lot of work. We don't have the leeway to be picky about jobs. Besides, all he did was appreciate my appearance, nothing more. It's not like he asked to sleep with me. But if he did, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility, I suppose."

"What?" Madara and Hashirama yelled at the same time, making everyone else, including Itachi, jump. They both look at each other with large eyes before turning their attention back to Itachi.

"What do you mean by that, Itachi?" Tobirama asks, leaning forward, red eyes honed in on Itachi's face.

Itachi releases Madara's hands and crosses his arms over his chest. "I'm just telling you the truth. The life of a shinobi is not a pretty one. I've seen missions before where information needed to be acquired from a subject by using more... physical means. And it's not always smart to beat the information out of them. I've heard more... intimate ways are needed to get the information." Itachi shrugs his shoulders again. "Don't look at me like that, aniki."

"Are you kidding me?" Izuna snaps, leaning forward to look past Madara at Itachi in disbelief. "You would fuck that guy?"

Itachi nods once. "Sure, so long as it benefits the village."

"We don't need that!" Hashirama says quickly, Madara nods quickly in agreement as Hashirama continues, "While we appreciate you willing to go so far for us and the village, there is no need for something like that to be done!"

Itachi nods again. "Very well."

Hashirama looks over at Madara and lets out a slow breath. "Well, I guess that's it for today, yeah? Or does anyone have anything else to discuss?" Everyone slowly shakes their head in negative. Hashirama jumps to his feet, clapping his hands together quickly. "Good! Then let's head out!" Then he quickly runs from the building like his ass was on fire.

"Itachi, let's talk," Madara says, standing up. "Come, Izuna."

So, Madara didn't like Itachi's insinuation about a possible future request. Izuna didn't like it either. They spent the better part of the next two hours talking to Itachi about what an absolutely horrible idea it is trying to sell himself to some crazy Land of Fire royal in order to get their village off the ground. Now, Itachi doesn't actually want to, but he didn't see a problem with throwing it out there, should the need arise. It's not like Itachi could somehow get pregnant from it, or, get the royal pregnant from it.

It was like Madara and Izuna thought that Itachi wanted to have sex with that "fruity" royal. That wasn't the case. More than anything Itachi wanted this alliance - this village - to work. He wanted his brothers to be cocooned in the center of this safety bubble that this village would hopefully provide. They may think Itachi was crazy for offering to sleep with the royal in order to keep his favor, but if it meant protecting his brothers then he would do it in a heart beat. Even if Izuna and Madara were against it. They came first to Itachi. Even if they hated him.

But there was no such offer. As far as they are concerned, right now the young lord has no such intentions. He was merely commenting on Itachi's... Ahem... "Beauty". There is no indication that he is even looking for a sexual relationship. It's the simple fact that Itachi offered to sleep with him if it was needed that has his brothers' heads blasting off their shoulders in exasperation.

But Itachi said nothing. He just listened to his brothers go on and on about how horrible an idea it is to sleep with a client just to keep his business and how equally - if not more horrible - it was for Itachi to even suggest such a thing in the first place.

Once it appeared as they've said their peace, Itachi stealthily snuck away, lest they find more reason to continue this discussion.

Ultimately, as much as Itachi respected and loved his brothers, he would do whatever it took to keep them safe. Whatever it took.

* * *

Itachi awoke in the middle of the night with a fright. His eyes scan the dark room around himself, searching for a predator in the night. But he was alone in his room with his blood roaring in his ears and his heart trying to leap from his chest.

Itachi dreamed about a neighborhood, it appeared. There was dozens of buildings. It was late at night and the moon was full, hovering menacingly over the collection of homes, witnessing the slaughter going on down on the streets below.

The dream started out with the home darkened out, most of the occupants sleeping inside. But then - in a flash - the occupants were killed in their homes. Men, women, and children. No one was safe from the murder. From the massacre. At some point in the dream, some of the men and women awakened to the carnage and tried to fight back to defend themselves and their loved ones but they too were cut down. It was easily done, without an ounce of emotion. Itachi was forced to sit and watch in horror as children were slaughtered in their beds like lamb.

The only shining moment was that none of them were awake for it. The children died quietly, painlessly, in their sleep. But the entire thing left Itachi feeling sick to his stomach. It was only nearing the end of the massacre that Itachi realized to his absolute horror that it wasn't just a random bunch of men, women and children that were being killed. While he didn't recognize any of them, there was something that he could not deny.

They were all Uchiha.

Itachi jumped to his feet, running to the door leading out into the hallway that opens up into the back yard. He runs out into the middle of the yard and drops to his knees, puking heartily on the ground. Itachi didn't usually have a weak stomach, but for some reason that hit him harder than he could ever have imagined it could have. His entire body was bent over his puke puddle, muscles pulled taut until all the contents in his stomach - including his stomach acid - was killing the grass right in front of him.

Itachi's body shakes so violently that he has to fall backwards onto his butt to avoid falling into the mess. He lays down onto his back, closing his eyes and enjoying the cool night air against his flushed skin. He rolls onto his side, away from the puke, and curls up into a ball to try and contain his trembling. He closes his eyes tightly, the pain in his gut is white hot.

Itachi makes a soft whimper of pain, curling tighter in on himself. He's in pain and his emotions are heightened, leaving him feeling raw. At this moment, Itachi would sacrifice everything to make the pain in his body and images of dead Uchiha burned into the back of his eyelids disappear. Itachi hasn't been sleeping well since right after they move to this new home. The pain in his belly has been steadily getting worse as time passes and it's affecting his mood, concentration and even making it hard to eat. It's an actual chore to choke down even the smallest bit of food. Just enough to keep himself alive.

What was happening to him? Why does he keep seeing these horrible images behind his eyelids? Why are his dreams filled with the murder of his family? Does this have something to do with Marume? Is Itachi somehow being punished for not yet finding the person or people who killed his brother? For taking his life for granted thus far?

"Itachi?" Someone grabs his arms, pulling him up toward them. Itachi opens his eyes to see that it's still dark out, so Itachi couldn't have been laying there for too long, yet his body is already chilled in the exposed night air. His eyes focus in on Madara's face, twisted in worry.

"Aniki..." Itachi croaks, feeling like trash. It felt like his body was physically rebelling against him. It felt like he was being ripped apart on the inside. The small, childish part of Itachi wanted to be held by his big brother, comforted by him, because as the youngest brother, it was his right to be a little spoiled. Wasn't it? If that's true, why does it feel like a crime whenever he does? All he's ever wanted, for as long as he could remember, he's wanted his brothers to be alive and happy. It was impossible for Itachi to ask for anything from them. He always felt like he didn't deserve it.

Itachi felt like a sickness. He felt like he was something nasty and impure in his brothers' radiant light. He knew that his brothers weren't perfect, but in some way, they would always be better than him. They would always be cleaner than he.

"Itachi, what are you doing out here?" Madara asks, pulling the youngest Uchiha brother into his arms, putting one hand flush against Itachi's forehead. "Kami, Itachi, you're burning up."

Itachi blinks slowly. "How did you know I was out here?"

Madara looks at him like he's delusional. He feels a little delusional. "I..." he hesitates a bit before looking away from Itachi, eyes scanning the open courtyard around their house. "I check on you and Izuna at night sometimes." Madara blushes a bit in embarrassment about having to admit to his overprotectiveness. Itachi couldn't stop himself from smiling faintly at that.

"You get embarrassed over the silliest things, brother," Itachi says softly. Madara pulls his hand away from Itachi's forehead and scoops his little brother up easily into his arms. Now it's Itachi's turn to be embarrassed. Even if he was slightly feverish, he still had his pride. He wiggles around in his brother's arms. "Put me down. I can walk."

"Shut up and rest," Madara grunts, still a bit embarrassed. "You're sick. Deal with a bit of pampering."

Itachi stops wiggling, wondering what the odds were of him sort of wishing to be spoiled a bit and actually getting it not so long later. Itachi stares up at his older brother, watching his embarrassment fade as he focuses on getting Itachi back into his room and back into bed. Itachi's eyes droop closed immediately, slipping into slumber before he knows it.

He awakens again to Madara putting a cool washcloth onto his forehead. It feels great. Now that his body is warm and his forehead is cool, he can sleep a bit more peaceful. Itachi knew that Madara would be busy in the morning, yet he knew that his older brother wouldn't leave him a lone that night. Itachi isn't perfect and neither is his brothers, but it's at moments like this, Itachi knew that all of the bad and questionable things his brothers did meant nothing. Madara, regardless of what anyone says, is very kind. The best type of older brother.

Thankfully, whatever bug Itachi caught was gone by morning. He felt groggy and tired with an ache in his stomach and head, but it was all things that could be ignored as he got up to start his day. Madara had slipped away to get ready for his as well before Itachi woke up.

"Feeling better?" Madara asked as they crossed paths in the hall.

"Yes, thank you, brother," Itachi says softly, tipping his head a bit to Madara.

Madara reaches out and puts his palm against Itachi's forehead, holding it there for a moment before nodding with a faint smile. "Good. I'm glad you're better. Do the rounds with Izuna today, if you're feeling up to it. I've got to go to a meeting with Hashirama first thing this morning so I'm going to be heading out now. Let me know if you need me."

Itachi nods, waving his hand around a bit. "Goodbye, aniki." Madara smiles faintly before moving past Itachi toward the front door. Itachi hesitates a moment before turning toward his brother and calling out his name. Once Madara is half turned toward him, curiously, Itachi says, softly, "Thank you for staying with me last night. I... I really needed that."

Madara blinks a few times before walking back over to Itachi and putting a hand on the back of his head, pulling him close so that his forehead can press against Madara's. The Uchiha patriarch looks into Itachi's eyes solemnly. "I'll do anything for you, brother," he says simply before turning away and heading out the door only seconds later.

Itachi believed him.

* * *

"Not hungry?" Hashirama asks, that night, pulling Itachi from his thoughts.

Itachi looks up from his bowl of rice, confused. He looks around for the person who spoke to him before his eyes land on Hashirama. "Did you say something, Hashirama?"

Hashirama, with his own bowl of rice in his hand, sits down next to Itachi around the fire pit. It was loud and filled with the two clans, it was hard to make out any one conversation.

"I asked, are you not hungry?" Hashirama asks again, smiling kindly.

Itachi looks down at his nearly full bowl. He was hungry, but his body just wasn't participating with him anymore. It was a fight every single day to hold food down, he just wasn't up to it right now. He lays the bowl down next to him and rests his forearms against his knees.

"No," he says honestly, there was no point in hiding it. "I'm just not feeling like it right now. What about you? How is your day going?"

Hashirama takes a bite of his rice, chewing thoughtfully for a moment before swallowing and answering, "I'm good. Thank you for asking, Itachi." He beams down at Itachi, making the younger boy smile a bit at the look. "But are you not feeling well?" A pause, then, "Madara told me you weren't feeling all that well last night. Do you still not feel well?"

Itachi rolls his eyes. "I should have expected that. Madara worries too much," he says, not at all angry. "I'm fine," he says quickly, not wanting to let it be known that he was lying about that - the pain in his gut isn't normal - before continuing, "I just don't have much of an appetite today. How is the village coming along?"

"It's good," Hashirama says slowly. He looks like he wants to check to make sure that Itachi is okay, but is respecting his personal space enough not to just reach out toward him like Madara did that morning.

Itachi looks away, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. Hashirama is just too cute.

"Itachi, about the meeting yesterday..." Hashirama says softly, eyes scanning the people around the fire pit. He looks back over at Itachi shyly. "About what you said..."

The youngest Uchiha brother tilts his head to the side. "About what? Sleeping with Gayumu?" Hashirama flushes in embarrassment. "What about it?"

Hashirama rolls his shoulders back. "Um, I just wanted to say that... well, while we deeply appreciate what you are willing to do for us and this village, I wanted you to know that you don't ever have to go that for us. There are other ways of making our village a powerful, respectable but most of all, peaceful one. And doing things like that... I want you to put it from your mind."

Itachi raises an eyebrow. "But what if you need me to do it?" Itachi asks.

Hashirama shakes his head animatedly. "No. Put it from your mind, Itachi. We will never ask that of you, okay? So, don't think about that anymore. Do you hear me, Itachi?"

Itachi stares at him for a long moment before nodding slowly. "Yes, I understand. I won't talk about it anymore."

Hashirama looks relieved. "Good." Hashirama lets out a long breath, putting down his own half eaten bowl and running a hand through his hair. At Itachi's curious look, Hashirama smiles tiredly at him. "Sorry. Madara and I just had a nice long talk about what the future of the village needs to look like and in order for us be successful, we need to start working really hard. A lot harder than I suppose I really thought we would. I'm ready, just..." he smiles wanly. "I'm just worried about it, is all."

"I understand," Itachi says softly. "These next few years are going to be long and tiring. Don't worry, Hashirama, this isn't just for you to bear, especially alone. The rest of us are here for the same reason you are. We want this alliance, and this village, to work. You and Madara just need to tell us what you need of us and expect that it will be done right, okay?"

Hashirama smiles, putting his arm around Itachi's shoulders. "Yes, thank you, Itachi. You are a good boy, thank you."

Itachi blushes a bit, looking around at everything but the Senju clan leader. "Um, you're welcome, Hashirama. Thank you, too."

"Anything for you," Hashirama says simply, echoing the words that Madara had said earlier that morning. Itachi looks over at him with widened out eyes, wondering what the chances were.

"Thank you..." Itachi says softly, blushing deeply.

"You're welcome. Well, I got to go, now. I'll see you later. Let me know if you aren't feeling well, okay? I'll help you out." Hashirama messes up his hair and stands up, grabbing his bowl and walking off with a little wave and a wink at Itachi over his shoulder before disappearing into the darkness of the night.

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. fatesmask: Thank you!_

 _2\. Yukina.T: You're welcome! I'm glad you liked it!_

 _3\. myriad-souls: Hmmm I wonder... XD. Thank you! I'm glad that you liked it!_

 _4\. TobiMada: Hmmm. Who knows? XD Thank you!_

 _5\. Pleasereadmything: Aww, did it really? No way! You're welcome!_

 _6\. chibitaku: Yeah, Madara is pretty protective. Okay!_

 _7\. Mayushi: Hm, maybe I should write a story with them as the main couple rather than a possible support. Tobirama and Itachi, huh? I'm so glad that you like it! Thank you!_

 _8\. BlueRam: Aww! Thank you so much for your kind words! Yes, I'm really starting to like the idea of that pairing too. I think they'll be adorable. Oh yes, big brother Madara and Izuna will be most displeased about all of that. Haha!_

 _9\. DeadGirl15: He sure is. Haha!_

 _10\. Nyght elf: You're welcome!_

 _11\. SprinkleLover: Yeah, seriously. Yeah, in all my stories with Hashirama, I come to just love him to bits and pieces! Thank you!_

 _12\. 1ItachiUchihagurl: He does, doesn't he?_

 _13\. just yuki: Me too. XD_

 _14\. bunny-hime: Yeah, me too. Haha. I was a little shocked myself, to be honest. It's such a great idea, I thought for certain there would be more like it. I don't think Madara was a monster. I think he was dealt a bad hand since the beginning going all the way back to the time of the Sage. Thank you very much for your kind words!_

 _15\. Guest: He is, isn't he? Me too. XD_


	8. What the Reaper left

**Author's Note: I'm sorry about the wait! Thank you all for everything you guys have been saying. It's really been helping me move forward with this story! I really appreciate it! Let me know what you thing! Check out the poll on my page! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the OC's I create.**

 **Warnings: Language, OOCness.**

 **Word Count: 5,424**

Itachi wakes up in the middle of the night, feeling this pulsing radiating throughout his entire body. He felt these hot flashes going through his body and it felt like he was dying. Itachi barely had enough strength to turn away from the door and window before raising up on his elbow a bit and puking on the floor next to his pillow. He didn't know if there was any backsplash or if he puked on his blanket or not, but Itachi falls onto his back again and turns away from it, unable to face it. He's just going to have to clean it up in the morning.

Afterward, Itachi fell asleep and dreamed about Marume and their shared mother.

It was strange. Marume and Itachi are identical twins. They looked the same in all ways, except Itachi didn't care enough to cut his hair whereas Marume did. It was also a way to separate the two of them. But standing before Itachi wasn't a little Marume. Wasn't child-Marume that died those few, short years ago. This was Marume, Itachi's age.

Marume stands before Itachi, looking exactly like him, as he always had been. He looked like older, having aged the same way Itachi had. The same large black eyes, framed with long lashes, with lines under them with stress and lack of sleep. He could pass for Itachi, with the only difference being that his hair only goes just past his jawline. Normally, someone would think that they were looking at themselves, but not Itachi. He knew that this was Marume. And now that Itachi was looking, Marume was a little more filled out than Itachi was. But that's it.

And their mother was beautiful. She wasn't like when she was sick. She was youthful and beautiful. She was like when Itachi first saw her after he lost his memories. When he was curious if she was sick but she didn't really look like it. She sits in the middle of a field, long dark hair flowing around her like a curtain of blue satin. She smiles up at Itachi, a beautifully blinding smile.

The two boys sit down next to their mother.

"I miss you," Itachi says, looking between his brother and mother.

Mikomo smiles a bit more. She reaches out and tucks a strand of Itachi's hair behind his ear. "I miss you too, sweetheart," Mikomo says softly, looking at him with loving dark black eyes. She runs her fingers up and down the smooth expanse of his left cheek. Itachi closes his eyes, enjoying this gentle feeling. It's been a long time since anyone has touched him like this.

No, that's not right. Gayumu touched the back of his hand like that. He touched it much like Itachi's mother used to touch him. Like he was precious. Like he was worthy. Like he was beautiful.

Now, Itachi doesn't care much for the sentiment itself - what boy wants to be called beautiful, anyway? - but he appreciated people having to find a word to describe him that wasn't somehow derogatory or degrading. Yes, beautiful wasn't degrading. Itachi thought people were beautiful. His brothers are beautiful to him. So is Hashirama.

They are beautiful. It's nice to feel like them for fleeting moments, even though he knows that it isn't true. It's still nice to hear it sometimes.

Itachi leans into the touch, closing his eyes for a moment, relishing in the touch, before puling back.

"I miss you too, Itachi," Marume says, pulling Itachi's dark eyes over to him. Marume leans back on his hands behind him, letting out a long winded sigh. He looks up at the beautiful blue sky. It looks like a field Itachi and his brothers used to play - and later train in - as kids. It was beautiful. It was a world completely untouched by death and chaos. The field was wide and filled with long grass and flowers that tapers off beyond the tree line into darkness.

"It's been a long time since I've dreamed about the two of you together," Itachi admits, looking between the two. He twirls a piece of long black hair around one of his fingers. He closes his eyes and relishes in the breeze on his face, pushing his hair around him. He can feel some of the strands brushing against his elbows. He takes in a few good breaths, lungs expanding to their full size before releasing his breath. It felt good to really breath without his lungs burning and his chest aching from whatever it was that was hurting him.

Stress maybe?

Can stress cause this kind of pain? Unease? Itachi didn't know.

"Why does it hurt?" Itachi asks, looking between his brother and mother.

"I don't know," Marume says. "I was never hurt like you? It just started randomly."

"Or you noticed it, randomly," their mother says.

"It was after the war was over that it started, wasn't it?" Marume asks, tilting his head to the side.

Mikomo's dark eyes turn to Itachi, large and beautiful, as he remembered them, but there was a glossy, empty look to them that he didn't notice before. They were almost doll-like. Lifeless. "Or, perhaps, have you had it for a while and just didn't notice it until after the war was over?"

Itachi looks between them, eyes wide. "No," he says. "I mean... I mean... I don't know. I don't remember ever feeling like this before. Shouldn't I have noticed it before? I'm not that oblivious."

"Maybe you did," Mikomo says softly, doll eyes starting back at him.

"And you just ignored it. Like every other time you've ever had a feeling," Marume says, shaking his head. "You always ignore yourself and now you've got an issue that you don't know how to solve."

Itachi's eyes lower in shame. Their words aren't untrue. A thought crossed Itachi's mind, so suddenly he was surprised by it. But for some reason, even though he didn't say anything, Marume's head twists to the side, eyes locked on him.

"Maybe you should tell Madara," Marume says, voicing Itachi's thoughts.

Itachi opens his mouth, a protest on his lips, when his mother speaks, "But that would just be a burden on him. Madara is busy."

"Izuna, then," Marume says, resting his hands on his lap.

"No, he'll just tell Madara," Mikomo says. "You know how this all works. You tell one of the brothers and he'll tell the other and they will make it into a big thing that you don't want to deal with, and do you know why?"

"Because you don't like being the center of attention," Marume says. "You would rather curl up in a ball and die, all alone."

"Because you think that's what you deserve," Mikomo says.

Marume and Mikomo both stare at Itachi with identical doll eyes. "And you were right," they say in unison. Itachi's world goes back.

Itachi jerks up slightly, only to grimace in pain and fall backward onto his bed again, face screwed up in agony. This has got to be the worst he has ever felt. He throws an arm over his eyes and breaths shallowly through clenched teeth.

That's when the putrid stench reaches his nose, forcing him to pull his arm away from his head and sit up on his left elbow to look down at the puke next to him. There's a knock at his door that he doesn't turn to.

"Itachi?" Izuna calls. "Are you awake yet?" Itachi doesn't respond, eyes wide as saucers. "Well, Madara is going to meet up with Hashirama about the construction of the village. Tobirama and I running patrol. We should be back in a few hours. Madara wants to see you before noon so get your butt out of bed before then. See you, little brother."

Itachi doesn't respond. His eyes are wide and his breath is stuck in his throat. He can't move, can't pull his eyes away from the scene in front of him. As he listens - somewhere in the back of his mind - to Izuna walking away, all Itachi could think about was why?

Why was his throw up from last night made up entirely of blood?

* * *

Itachi walks toward Madara slowly, staring at the back of his older brother's head, as he and Hashirama toss around ideas about what should be where. He steps close but doesn't say anything, happy to just watch his brother living in his element. Madara looks over at Hashirama, annoyed at his idea for making a little play area for the kids.

"As wonderful as that is, Hashirama, we need to build enough homes for everyone first before worrying about where the kids are going to play," Madara says dryly. "Now, don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the idea and would enjoy having some place safe for the kids to play around but we just don't have the time or the money to bring someone in here to make something that's structurally sound. I want something, definitely, but we can't right now. Sometime though."

Hashirama nods slowly. "Promise?" He gives Madara a side glance.

Madara nods. "Promise."

"You wanted to see me, brother?" Itachi says, thinking that now is probably the time to let Madara know that he's there.

Madara and Hashirama turn toward him. Madara's face is neutral while Hashirama's has a smile painted across his face. Both of them frown at the sight of him and tilt their heads slightly.

"Itachi?" Hashirama says softly.

"Are you feeling okay?" Madara asks, reaching out and putting his hand on Itachi's forehead, but the younger boy steps back and out of reach of his hand. Madara looks unhappy by the action but drops his hand anyway. Although Itachi recognized that look. He didn't mean to just step out of the way of Madara's hand, he just... couldn't get Marume and his mother's words out of his head. And the puke this morning on top of that? No, Itachi didn't want to think about any of that.

"I'm fine. What can I do for you?"

Madara shakes his head. "Never mind. Go back to bed."

Itachi stares at him. "I'm fine, brother. I just have been feeling a little under the weather, is all. It'll do me some good to be able to do something. Please. Is there anything you need me for?"

Madara looks hesitant. "No, I don't think that it's a good idea. Just... sit this one out for the day."

"I'm fine," Itachi says, stepping closer to his brother. "You just worry too much. I'm not fragile. I'm not delicate. It's been four months since we made that deal with Gayumu. He hasn't done or asked anything of me yet you still seem worried that something might happen."

"Something still might," Madara says stubbornly. He crosses his arms over his chest. "Maybe he's waiting for you to mature. You don't know." Hashirama sort of turns away, trying to give them a bit of privacy.

Itachi raises an eyebrow. "Mature? Like, when I turn sixteen? I'm not going to be any different then than I am now. I've been this tall since I was thirteen, I can't imagine I'm getting much taller and I'm not so sure I understand what else this could have to deal with," Itachi says, crossing his own arms over his chest. Itachi rolls his eyes. "Well, I can imagine, but I'm not uncouth enough like Izuna to put it into words but let's be honest, I'm an adult. I can kill, have sex and survive a little dip in my health doesn't suddenly make that any less true. Now, do you have something that you need done, brother?"

Madara's frowning deeply. "I... I don't like hearing you talk like that."

Itachi rolls his eyes. "Yes, brother. Very well, I'm going to go live my day. Goodbye."

"Itachi," Madara sighs, reaching out and grabbing Itachi's arm, pulling him toward him, "I'm sorry. I'm trying to reign in my big brother-ness. I just... worry, okay? I'm sorry. I'm done."

Itachi shakes his head. "I doubt that, but fine. Now, what do you need?"

Madara pulls his hand back. "I just... needed someone to babysit the elders for me while Hashirama and I delegate the construction, but if you aren't feeling all that good..."

"Done," Itachi says, turning away and heading toward the Uchiha household. Itachi pauses a few feet away, glancing over his shoulder at the worried look of his big brother and smiles. "I'm fine, brother. See you."

* * *

Itachi sits in the meeting room, listening for hours on end of the elders going on and on about Madara needs to marry this, and Izuna needs to stop doing these people that and Itachi just couldn't take it any more. He wanted to be up and doing things so he didn't have to think about the dirty shirt he used to mop up the bloody puke and threw in his closet so that none of his clansmen would see him throw out a bloody clothes. As a shinobi, that is normal, but people always question it. And word will get back to Madara and Izuna and Itachi doesn't know how he would explain it.

Itachi just stares at them, not knowing what to say. But thankfully they don't want him to talk, they just want someone to listen. Itachi's not even sure they want him to forward any of what they say to Madara or not. Either way, it's still crazy. Why did he think that he wanted to do this? He runs his fingers through his long fringe, just listening to them go on and on about things Itachi couldn't care less about.

Sure, Madara should marry - at some point, is now really the time he should be focusing on that? - and yes, if Izuna can stop whoring around for a day or two that would be great too, but that's all kinds of wishful thinking. Madara is unbelievably busy trying to get this village off the ground and have his dream be realized and Izuna has too much time on his hands. Itachi could do nothing about either situation, eve if he wanted to, he wouldn't.

His brothers were living their life how they wanted to. Madara, while stressed out, is actually enjoying having something to focus on. Madara's a busy body, always has been, and enjoys having something to focus so solely on makes him happy. Even as a teenager, Madara found joy in training hawks. They were vicious and dangerous and scarred him up bad on his arms, but he enjoyed the care and time dedicated to training them.

And Izuna... well, he's just excited by his new-found freedom. No longer having to worry about going to battle every single day has given him the freedom he didn't know he had. He's choosing to use that to have sex, but that's his prerogative. Itachi wasn't about to tell either of his brothers how to live their lives, especially now since they finally have the freedom to do that.

Screw the elders and what they want. Itachi's brothers are happy right now doing what they are doing, Itachi's not going to try and stop them. So long as they aren't being self destructive, which they sort of aren't - at least in Madara's case, Izuna's is a little more edgy - but still, so long as they are okay, they are okay. Itachi crosses his arms over his chest and rolls his shoulders back.

"What is your plan, Itachi-sama?" one of the elders ask, making Itachi's eyebrow raise. This ought to be good.

"My plan for what?" Itachi asks.

Now their attention has shifted to Itachi. The youngest of the three brothers rolls his ankles, letting them pop a few times under the table, before he pulls them back underneath himself. He clears his throat and levels his chin out, prepared for what was to come. They've spent the last two hours complaining about his brothers, now it was his turn. No wonder Madara didn't want to have to deal with this.

The elder that spoke to Itachi shifts his body to face the youngest in the room, a jagged scar over his left eye and the bridge of his nose is a slight discoloration in his skin. Something Itachi noticed every time he saw the elder. It was just the first thing he saw every time the man spoke to him.

"Now that we are at peace with the Senju," the elder - Daichi, his name is - says slowly, deliberately, "I was curious about your next course of action, my lord. What will you do now?"

Itachi tilts his head to the side. "I'm not sure I understand what you are asking of me, Daichi-san. I will help build up our new home and fortify it. Why do you ask?"

"Is that all?" He asks, the probing in his voice is thinly veiled.

Itachi's eyebrow quirks up at that. His large, dark eyes flitter across the room, looking at the other elders before settling back on Daichi, seeing as they dont seem to know what he's trying to get to.

"I know that you are trying to get something out of me, Daichi-san, but I'm not sure what. I'm not so certain. Everyone wants to spent the next few minutes watching me try to figure it out, so if you could just tell me, I'd be grateful." Itachi wasn't feeling well and his patience has already run thin enough as it is with this discussion. The sooner he can get out of it, the better.

The elder just stares at Itachi for a moment with narrow black eyes, mentally contemplating something. Itachi's face remains impassive and his eyes never leave the older man's.

Itachi has a weird relationship with his clan. They respect him, he is the second heir and Madara's beloved younger brother, but people didn't seem to know how to talk to him or how they should react around him. If Itachi had to guess they probably see him as standoffish and that's why people are quick to run from a conversation.

But that can't be it. It's probably because Itachi has been in a weird place his entire life. He activated the Mangekyo before Izuna and Madara did. People have always looked at him as if he was some kind of strange animal in an exhibit. Like he was in some kind of bubble that no one could penetrate. Like he was something that could only be seen from the outside. He wasn't something that could just be spoken to. He wasn't something that could be interacted with. And none of it was by Itachi's choice.

He lost his memory as a small child, everyone became strangers to him. He was always exceptional in learning than all his brothers. Madara was a protégé in his own right, as was Izuna and Marume, but Itachi was different. He learned things so quickly that it was near impossible for people to be able to keep up with his growth rate - skill wise not height - or his teachers are unable to find more things for him to learn. Itachi was treated like a secret weapon by his father and then coddled by his brother. There was things expected of each and every Uchiha and yet somehow it was different from the rest of them.

There was no way for people to just approach him. He always hid in the shadow of his brothers. Not intentionally - at least on his part, it was probably most definitely Madara's plan, knowing him - but he still found himself being hidden behind his brothers. He didn't mind, people wouldn't usually expect a second brother, probably more powerful than the first two.

Itachi heard, a few times over the course of his short life, people wondering if perhaps _he_ was more suitable to be clan leader than Madara. He was the strongest of the three - supposedly, they never really had a battle to see who was more powerful but that was the popular belief - he was the most calm, leveled headed one of the three of them. While he wasn't easily approached by the people of the clan, he was well liked by the elders, for his high intellect. Madara was a genius. His brilliance was unmatched by all, except Itachi. In war games, Itachi's intellect, pitted up against Madara's would reign supreme. Not always, but enough for people to start thinking.

Itachi was easy to educate. He would read anything and everything that he was given and would have it memorized within days afterward. Itachi didn't act like kids his age. He was smart, disciplined, and was well liked by the elders of the family and for the most part the rest of his family too, those that knew how to be around him. It was just those who didn't fight alongside him or see him everyday that didn't know how to approach him.

Anyway, people thought that maybe Itachi should be clan leader, Itachi had scoffed at that. He was no leader. Not like that. He could lead, if he had to, but he wasn't going to lead the Uchiha clan. That was his brother's job. Madara was born specifically for that, and Itachi would never try and take something that rightfully belongs to his brother. Madara and Izuna. Marume too, had he lived.

Like he should have.

Itachi told Madara what he heard, about people thinking he should be clan leader and Madara, instead of angry, or annoyed, he appeared thoughtful.

"You'd make a good leader," Madara had said, rubbing his chin. "I think you would be able to do it."

"I don't want it," Itachi said softly. "Clan leadership is yours."

Madara shrugs his shoulders. "I don't mind. If you don't want it, fine. Don't listen to anyone else. It's my job. I want it, I'll keep it. If you don't want it, you don't have to worry about anything? What will they do? Plan a coup?" Madara had laughed at that. "So what if they won? You don't want it anyway."

Itachi had smiled faintly at that. "Don't say that. You'll invite bad juju."

Madara rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Don't worry about it."

"Very well," Daichi says, pulling Itachi from his thoughts. He blinks rapidly, trying to focus in on the present. "I apologize for making it seem like I was trying to dance around this conversation. I meant no disrespect."

Itachi shakes his head, he didn't care about petty things like that. If he wasted his life on the little things, he was going to be old and dead before he was able to move on and he just didn't care about that. He had one problem, a constant, that he had to focus on: the murder of Marume. Nothing else really stacked up to it. Problem-wise. His brothers were just as important.

"It's fine," Itachi says. "I just don't want to drag this out anymore."

Daichi nods, interlacing his fingers together on his lap. "I was curious if you were still going to pursue the ones who killed Marume-sama. Is there still a plan to bring him - or them - to justice?"

Itachi just stares at him for a moment. He blinks slowly before saying, softly, "No. I have no plan on bringing him or them to justice."

The elders share looks and murmur to one another. Some appalled, some understanding. None of them get it though. Itachi just stares at them for a moment, letting them talk as they may while he just watches them.

"You plan on letting them go?" Daichi asks, eyebrow raised.

Itachi shakes his head. "I didn't say that."

The room quiets at that. One of the elders tilts his head at that. "Isn't that what you just said, Itachi-sama?"

Itachi shakes his head. "No," Itachi says simply. "I said that I wasn't going to bring him or them to justice. I'm not. I'm going to kill them. Simple as that. No judge, no jury, no trial, no courts, nothing. I want to look into their eyes, and kill them as fast or slow as I want." Itachi shrugs. "I don't know. It depends on how I feel when the moment comes."

There is a long moment of silence. All of the elders look around at one another with unreadable looks on their faces. Itachi is completely calm and relaxed. He didn't care what they thought about him. He didn't care if they told Madara and Izuna, or not, all that mattered to him was that his brother would be avenged and that one day Madara and Izuna would be able to live long and happy, even if there is little bumps in the road here or there.

"Good," a voice says, stopping the mumblings and the looks sent from one elder to another. Everyone turns their attention to the man who spoke, the oldest of all of the elders, a man in his early eighties with white hair, pushed back out of his face, large, bushy eyebrows that cover his eyes and a sagging face. His body is small and hunched and covered with scars and liver spots.

Keiichiharu, was his name. He's a great uncle to Itachi, not sure how great, though. Itachi's not sure where in the family tree he was but Itachi did know his father really respected the man. The old elder never said much and most of the time, Itachi wondered if the man was sleeping or not, but apparently he's usually always aware of what's going on. But Itachi supposed Keiichiharu was listening.

"Good, Keiichiharu-san?" one of the other elders says. "What's good?"

The old man mumbles something incoherent, head moving from side to side a bit before settling on Itachi and holding a hand out for the youngest in the room. After a moment of hesitation, Itachi stands up, his knees pop, before walking around the table to the other side and sitting down on his legs in front of the oldest man in the room. Itachi takes Keiichiharu's hand and looks at him.

"Yes, Keiichiharu-san?" Itachi says softly, tilting his head slightly to the side, long black hair sliding over his shoulder.

Keiichiharu closes his hand around Itachi's hand and puts his other one over top, cocooning his hand between the older man's. Keiichiharu smiles, squeezing Itachi's hand. "You are a good boy, Itachi. I'm happy to hear that you are going to destroy those that threatened us," Keiichiharu says, his voice low and shaky. "You keep doing what your doing."

Itachi blinks a few times, slowly. "You are alright with my plan?"

Keiichiharu nods. "I am. Years ago our family started a bloody crusade across the country, conquring all the Sharingan wielding families, making us one, and then moving on to conquer or destroy everything else. That is our history. That is our mistake and we will forever have to live with that. But someone has been trying to prolong our madness, feed our anger and hunger for war. For how long, I don't know, but simply turning them into the capitol and the samurai for justice is not the right path. Destroying them for what they've done, is."

Itachi blinks in surprise, but nods slowly. "Yes... I understand."

"Our sins are ours and we must own up to them, but what could have been stopped a while ago has been dragged on. This cannot be forgive and shouldn't be, Itachi-sama, you are the living, breathing embodiment of our collective rage," Keiichiharu says, holding onto Itachi's hands as hard as he can. "You are the Uchiha manifested into one being, always has been."

Itachi's eyebrows pull together a bit at that. "What do you mean?"

Keiichiharu pulls a hand away from their cluster of fingers to press against Itachi's cheek. "Ever since you were born, I've always known that you were different. Even before you lost your memory, there was an air about you that always radiated something unearthly. Ever since you lost your memory, that part of you has been unleashed and has flourished."

Itachi shifts a little bit closer, even though they aren't talking quietly. "I don't understand..."

"There is a reason the Grim Reaper let you stay, my boy," Keiichiharu says, leaning in closer too, a firm crease forming between his buried eyes. "Do you know why? Do you know why you lived?"

It was strange. Marume's death became taboo to speak of after it happened. Even moreso around Itachi. Itachi didn't mind talking about it, it was a burning fact that would never leave him - Marume died and he lived. A trap that both of them were caught in and yet somehow Itachi lived. He was told on multiple occasions that he was lucky to be alive, that it was a miracle. This is the first time an elder has spoken to him about Marume.

"No," Itachi says softly, and it's the truth. Why was he spared when Marume was not? Why was he the one that lived when his older brother didn't? Why was Itachi cursed with life when Marume was cursed with death? Marume was good and pure, he should have lived. But he didn't.

Itachi did.

"I don't know why I lived," Itachi says, softer than before, but his voice somehow fills the quiet room. "I don't know why Marume had to die while I lived. I don't know why the Reaper let me stay."

Keiichiharu nods slowly, running the rough pads of his fingers over Itachi's smooth cheek. "I know why, my boy. Do you want to know?" Itachi nods, ever so slightly. It was at that moment that Keiichiharu opened his eyes, revealing two red, spinning Sharingan. "You are our rage, you are our vengeance. When the Reaper came calling for you, you denied him. You have something that keeps you anchored here. Do you know what that is, dear boy?" His voice is low and gravelly, sounding like he's regressed forty years and is a legendary warrior in his prime.

Itachi shakes his head again. "No, sir."

"It is your rage. Beneath your pretty face and gentle voice is rage boiling hotter than any I have ever seen. It is that power that makes the world bow to you, my boy, and the Reaper is no exception. But he has touched you, child, played with your soul but left you here. He was not strong enough to break the thing that keeps you here. But it has left it's toll. You can feel it inside of you, can't you? The cold fingers of death that rot you from the inside out?" Keiichiharu's voice drops down into a low octave Itachi has to strain his ears to hear.

His words make Itachi shiver.

Itachi could feel it alright. It has been there for as long as he can remember. And it was going to stay there until the day that he died. Hopefully, by then, Itachi will have achieved his dream.

And destroyed all his enemies.

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. Guest 1: Um, sorry? There is a poll on my page. :D_

 _2\. Marules: Thank you! I am so happy that you like my story! I have a poll on my page if you're interested in the pairing._

 _3\. Kios Denlion: Hehe. I do like the pairing, but I'll let the readers decide. If this one doesn't become an Hashi/Ita, then I'll make one for it. :D_

 _4\. Guest 2: Thank you! I'm happy that you like it! Hmmm... I wonder. ;D_

 _5\. Chibitaku: Hmmm. Note. :D_

 _6\. Tamani: I wonder. XD_

 _7\. BlueRam: Hehehe, yeah. Itachi is super cute. I just love him. :3_

 _8\. rangelica256896: He sure was._

 _9\. bunny-hime: Yeah, Itachi didn't see that coming, either. I just love Itachi so much. He is may bae. I hope that I am somewhat doing him justice. I love the relationship between them. It's just too sweet!_

 _10\. 1ItachiUchihagurl: Yeah. I had thought about that too. I didn't want it to seem like there was anything wrong with being gay, that it was part of their society, but not something that people were just open about. Thank you for reading! I'm glad that you like it!_

 _11\. CGRD: Hehe, thanks! Sorry for the wait!_

 _12\. Psychowee: Thanks! Sorry for the wait!_

 _13\. SprinkleLover: Yes, very spunky, that one. His loyalty to Konoha will always remain, no matter what. As will his love for his brothers. Yeah, he's not going to take it all very well if that does happen. Sorry about the wait!_

 _14\. sousie: Seriously. ;D_

 _15\. Forlorn Story Teller: It's nothing to Itachi, but it means everything to his brothers. It's crazy. He sees it as something that can be rid of for the benefit of his home. He doesn't see it as anything important. I'm glad you feel that way! I hoped that I was doing a well enough job. Thank you!_

 _16\. UniCryin: I'm glad that you like it! Thank you!_

 _17\. xKMx: Thank you! I'm glad you like it so far!_


	9. This Changes Everything

**Author's Note: Sorry about the wait! Over 100 reviews! No way! You are way too kind, everyone! I just love hearing what you all have to say! So, I'm going to take the poll down on my page about who Itachi should be with. So Hashirama and Tobirama blew Itama out of the water, but they are tied with one another, so I'm just going to ask who y'all would like him to be with. Hashirama or Tobirama? Anyway! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the OC's I create.**

 **Warnings: Language, OOCness and talk about sex.**

 **Word Count: 5,610**

Itachi steps back, dodging Izuna's swipe to his face. He holds his hands out at his waist to keep himself balanced while back stepping. Izuna's sharingan spins in his eyes tauntingly. There is a teasing grin that nearly splits his face in two.

"What's wrong, Itachi?" Izuna asks, tauntingly. He even gives off a little laugh. "You're a little slow today. Are you under the weather?"

Itachi lets out a little sigh, but says nothing. It's been a few days since he spoke with the elders and was given that cryptic message by Keiichiharu. His birthday was coming up, sixteen, and he had to perform the Uchiha coming of age ceremony, as part of the main branch. He had to do battle with the clan leader to prove that he was a man. Izuna had to do it and it was an amazing fight. He got creamed, but it was still amazing. But Itachi was the secret weapon of the Uchiha clan. People were eagerly awaiting his fight with Itachi because it was a legitimate battle between Itachi and his brother. It would prove who was stronger.

Itachi didn't really care, but his clan was and by default, the Senju were invited to come too.

Itachi rolls his eyes. He doesn't have the desire to play these games with Izuna. He's too cocky and arrogant. Itachi loves him to death, but sometimes he's just too much to deal with. The thing about it, is that Itachi wouldn't trade his arrogant ass for the world. They were his brothers, he would love them forever. No matter what personality quirks they had.

But regardless of what he wants, Itachi will play these games. It is what Izuna wants. So Itachi will play.

"I thought I was suppose to at least try and make you look good first, brother," Itachi says, softly. Izuna's smile falters slightly. Madara, who was standing off to the side, viewing their match alongside Hashirama and a few Uchiha and Senju.

"Arrogant," Izuna mutters, his smile filling back up again. "And here I was worried that you weren't a real Uchiha!"

Itachi smiles coyly. "It's because of clansmen like you, Izuna, that make everyone in the world think that we are pompous assholes. I just want to prove to them all that it's a personal choice, not genetic."

Madara grins at that while Izuna gives the youngest brother a haughty look. Itachi gives his chin a little jerk but doesn't goad any more than that. It wasn't really in his nature to be like that.

"You're cute, Itachi," Izuna says flatly.

Itachi grins. "That's what they call me. The cute brother," Itachi says mirthfully. Okay, maybe he had another one in him.

Madara barks out a laugh. Even Hashirama laughs at that. Izuna grins back at Itachi before lunging at him. The youngest Uchiha brother falls backward onto his back, throwing his legs out, catching Izuna in the stomach and launching him over Itachi's body. Izuna manages to get a hand into the dirt, pushing off the ground, and landing on his feet on the other side of Itachi.

Itachi rolls toward his brother, letting his leg shoot out and hit Izuna in the chest, catching the older brother off guard before jumping on top of him, kicking his weapon away before bringing the kunai in his down to Izuna's throat, holding it there. One knee pressed into Izuna's chest while his right foot is planted onto Izuna's left wrist, holding it in place.

"Shit!" Izuna rasps, having difficulty breathing under Itachi's weight on his chest. "Okay, get your fat ass off of me, Itachi."

Itachi blinks down at his brother, slowly. "Do you think that I'm still out of it, brother? Should I try and get my point across more? Do you need more of a demonstration?"

"Hell no," Izuna grunts. "Get off of me."

"The weather is great up here," Itachi says playfully.

Izuna glares at him. "Fuck, fine. I give. Now get off."

Itachi smiles, stepping off his brother, slipping the kunai back into his pouch and holding a hand out for his brother. Izuna takes a moment to catch his breath before reaching out to take Itachi's hand and letting his little brother pull him to his feet. Itachi slides his kunai back into his pouch and pats his brother on the shoulder before looking over at Madara.

"Very good," Madara says, walking over to them. "You got a little cocky in the end, Izuna."

Izuna glares at the ground for a moment before smiling easily at them. "Okay, yeah. But you look a little out of it, Itachi. Are you alright?"

"I'm good," Itachi says, dusting off his pants. "I just haven't gotten much sleep recently."

Madara tilts his head to the side. "Are you alright? Do you want me to ask Hashirama to take a look at you?"

"Do you need me to look at you, Itachi?" Hashirama asks, stepping up next Madra, glancing down at his best friend before looking over at Itachi. His eyebrows are pulled together in genuine worry. "I can, without a problem."

Itachi shakes his head, waving his hand around dismissively. "No, I'm fine. I'm just excited for my birthday, I guess, so it's been a bit difficult to sleep at night right now. But don't worry, I'm okay."

Izuna, Madara and Hashirama all stare at him without any shift in expression. They take a moment to look at one another before Izuna says, "Did you guys believe any of that bullshit? Because I didn't." Itachi rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Funny. I'm fine. Now what's on the agenda today?" Itachi asks.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take a look at you?" Hashirama asks, eyebrows still pulled together tightly. Itachi stares at him for a moment, wondering how someone can be pure. So genuinely kind. If it was Itachi, he would have been exhausted before too long. He just didn't know how Hashirama could be so kind all the time.

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm okay. Just tired..." Itachi says, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "Maybe I should go home for today and get some more sleep." Itachi knew that worried look on Madara's face and the one creeping up on Izuna's. If he didn't offer something to they may approve of to rectify his 'tired' energy then they would probably keep pursuing it until Hashirama took a look at him. And if that happened, then he might learn why Itachi is tired all the time, and that's the last thing Itachi wants.

No one can know.

Madara seems a bit happier with the suggestion. "Good idea," he says. "Your birthday is coming up, and so is our battle. Make sure to get plenty of rest and be in tip-top shape by then. Remember, you are representing our clan and our clan's strength. Show these weak forest dwellers and their prancy leader what a real battle is," Madara says, smiling a playful half smile at Itachi, but it's obvious that it's directed at Hashirama.

Hashirama laughs, easing up a bit. Thankfully not offended by his best friend's words. He smiles down at Madara a bit before turning his attention back to Itachi. "But really, Itachi, you've been awfully pale for a few days now. If something is wrong, please come to me for help, alright?" His eyebrows pull back together again, in worry.

Itachi nods. "I'm good, but if something happens I'll let you know," Itachi says simply, lying coming so easy to him. It always has. He feels bad about it, he does, every single time he lies to Madara and Izuna, even to Hashirama. A part of him wants to tell them what's wrong. Tell them about what he's going through and how much pain he's in, but he can't. He can't summon the words or even muster the courage.

Itachi is afraid.

He's afraid that if he admits to something being wrong and there actually is and it's something... something as bad as he fears that it is, he won't be able to hunt those that killed his brother. He won't be able to find them. He won't be able to make them pay for what they did. He can't be concerned with anything else so long as Marume is left un-avenged.

"I'm going home, call me if you need me," Itachi says softly, turning away from his brother and Hashirama to head for their shared home.

"Get some sleep," Madara says. "I'll come and see how you are in a few hours, alright?"

"Worry wort," Itachi mutters but waves his hand around above his head to show that he heard his eldest brother's words. Itachi glances over his shoulder for a moment to see his brothers and Hashirama both turning away to talk about who knows what, letting Itachi off the hook for the time being.

On Itachi's way back to his home he spots someone he didn't expect to see sitting in the middle of a circle of trees with a board sitting in front of him. He's staring down at it intently, white hair practically glowing in the sunlight despite being in the shade of the tree at his back. Itachi takes a moment to look around to see if there is anyone else around - there isn't - before he makes his way over to the white haired man, stopping a few feet in front of him.

Tobirama is bent over a shogi board. He looks up at Itachi as the younger boy approaches.

"Hey," Itachi says softly, tilting his head to the side.

Tobirama gives a little nod. "Hey..."

"Playing Shogi?" Itachi asks, nodding down to the board game in front of the Senju heir.

Tobirama takes a moment to look down at the board, almost as if he forgot that it was there, before looking back up at Itachi and nodding once more. "Yeah. Do you play?"

Itachi nods. "Yes. Madara and I used to play whenever he had free time. Did you and Hashirama play? Or you and Itama?"

Tobirama nods. "Hashirama and I. Itama doesn't like to sit still for long, he doesn't have patience for shogi."

Itachi raises an eyebrow. "Really? I guess I never thought that Hashirama would be the type of person who would be able to sit around and focusing on something slow paced like shogi."

Tobirama smiles a bit, faintly. "Yeah, he wasn't at first, but as he aged, he matured. I think."

Itachi laughs lightly. "You don't sound so sure about that."

"I'm not," Tobirama admits, his smile fading to a neutral expression. "Would you like to play? If you have time."

Itachi nods, lowering himself to the dirt in front of Tobirama. "I've got time. I'm a little tired so my brothers want me to get some rest. I don't think they'll mind me doing this for a bit. But forgive me if my game isn't top notch."

"How many times have you played Madara?" Tobirama asks, resetting the pieces on the board.

"A couple dozen times," Itachi says, running his fingers through his long black hair, working out he knots.

"And how many times have you won against him?" Tobirama asks, eyes downcast to the board.

Itachi doesn't respond right away. He just looks around for a moment before saying, softly, "Every time."

Tobirama pauses for a moment before looking up at Itachi with hooded red eyes, as if he wasn't certain what Itachi said. The young black haired boy just stares back at him. Tobirama looks around, thinking about it for a second before lowering his eyes back to the game board. He finishes setting up the rest of the game before nodding slowly.

"Well, let's see how good you are, Itachi." Tobirama waves his hand over the board before looking up at Itachi, "You can go first."

Itachi nods and makes the first move. The two men sit in silence as they play, not looking at each other while the game goes on.

Tobirama relaxes back against the tree trunk behind him, one leg bent at the knee with his elbow settled against it and dangling between his legs while the other is flat and angled away from the board slightly. He's focused on the game, pausing only to sense the world around them, before he continues focusing down at the game.

Itachi has his legs pulled up to his chest with his left cheek resting against his knees while his body is tilted to the side so that he can play with his right hand while his right is resting against the ground by his ankles. Itachi has mild sensing abilities, it's practically nothing compared Tobirama's legendary sensing abilities, so he just lets Tobirama be in charge of their protection. He trusts the white haired man's sensing abilities. If Tobirama doesn't sense anyone coming, then Itachi is relatively sure that they haven't nothing to worry about for the moment.

After a long silence that feels like it stretched on for hours, but was probably only a couple of minutes, Tobirama finally looks up at him and asks, "How are you feeling?"

Itachi looks up at him and blinks slowly. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

Tobirama huffs a bit. "You look sick, Itachi, your face is really pale."

Itachi presses his cheek against his knee a bit more and closes his eyes for a moment, tired by this conversation. He feels like he's had it a hundred times the last few months. He opens his eyes again and says, "I'm okay. I'm just tired." He lets out a little sigh. "I'm okay, I promise. I just want everyone to focus on this village, I want to too." A pause, then, "You have no room to talk, by the way, being as pale as you are."

Tobirama looks at Itachi with intense red eyes. He huffs again, a bit amused. "Touche."

They continue to play in silence for a few more minutes. It's Tobirama who speaks again, "My brother is worried about you."

Itachi's head jerks up slightly, looking at Tobirama confused. "Which brother?"

"Hashirama." A pause. "Well, and Itama, but Hashirama is actually annoying about it."

Itachi rests his head against his knees again. "My brothers worry about me a lot. I don't need your brothers to worry about me too," Itachi says softly, not angry or really annoyed. In fact, he's flattered. He's happy that there is good people out there that do care about him. But in the end, it just makes this entire situation harder for him.

"I know," Tobirama says simply. "I get that it can get annoying but unfortunately my brother really likes you. You can't easily escape Hashirama Senju once he's latched onto you. It doesn't matter how long you've known him. He's like a parasite, feeding off of you, you can't easily get rid of him."

Itachi lets out a little laugh. "I guess Madara's a good example of that, huh?"

Tobirama nods. "He's the perfect example of such a thing." Itachi lets out another laugh.

"My brother is mean," Itachi says softly, drawing Tobirama's red eyes up to him. "Madara, I mean, he's mean to Hashirama, I know he is. Some of the things he says are mean but don't doubt it for a moment, Tobirama, my brother does like yours. He firmly believes that Hashirama is a good man, he's even told me on occasion when we were still at war that if he had to trust any Senju, it would be Hashirama and it would be without a single doubt."

Tobirama stares at him for a moment, blinking slowly. "I... see. But why would you tell that to me?"

"My brother can be mean, to everyone, but moreso for Hashirama. I don't know if you noticed but that's just how he is. It's not okay, but I don't want you to doubt my big brother's intentions. Madara and Izuna are very good brothers. They are very good people. They want this alliance with the Senju to work. I just worry sometimes that it may not seem like that to people who don't really know them," Itachi says slowly, letting his dark eyes slip closed for a moment, he can feel his long lashes brush his cheeks. "My brothers are good. I would hate for someone to genuinely think otherwise."

Tobirama doesn't say anything for a moment, staring down at the Shogi board in thought. Once he's got his thoughts in order, he looks back up at Itachi and says, "I believe you."

Itachi's eyes open to stare back at him. "Do you?"

Tobirama nods. "Yes. I believe you and I believe in Madara and Izuna. At the beginning of this alliance, I had some concerns, but... it is getting easier for them to be lessened over time. I do want this alliance to work as well. As annoying as my brother is, Hashirama is a really good judge of character and while I was worried in the beginning, I trust him and his instincts. He's very rarely wrong about people."

Itachi smiles softly, moving to stand slowly. He brings his arms above his head and stretches out. He lets his body crack and pop for a moment before relaxing, looking down at Tobirama with a soft smile. "Thank you for saying that to me. I think I needed to hear it."

Tobirama tilts his head in confusion. "For saying what?"

"For saying that Hashirama was worried about me and that he was a good judge of character," Itachi says quietly, staring down at Tobirama with large, half lidded dark eyes. "It makes me feel better about my life choices."

Tobirama's eyebrows pull together. "How so?"

Itachi leans down and moves the winning piece into place, staring into Tobirama's eyes and smiles secretively. "Thank you for the match, Tobirama. I would like to play again sometime." Itachi straightens up and turns away from the white haired Senju and heads home.

* * *

Itachi opens his eyes, feeling someone running their fingers through his hair. He turns slightly, his back was turned to the door and window. Madara is sitting at his side, staring down at him. It's dark outside.

"What time is it..?" Itachi mumbles, voice thick with sleep.

"Nighttime," Madara says simply, retracting his hand from Itachi's hair. "It's almost dinner time, are you hungry?"

He wasn't really, but Itachi didn't want to give Madara any more reason to be upset and worried over him, so he nods. "Yeah," he says softly. "What are you doing in here? To get me for dinner?"

Madara nods. "Partly. I wanted to check on you too. Your forehead is burning, Itachi. Please tell me if you aren't feeling okay," Madara says softly, a frown prominent on his face.

Itachi sighs, rolling onto his back. "I'm okay," Itachi says, sounding like a broken record. "I was sleeping, brother. Your body temperature rises while you sleep."

Madara lets out a long, drawn out sigh. He runs his hair through his wild black mane, grumbling under his breath for a moment, not knowing what to do. He slaps his palm against his forehead. "Damn it, Itachi..." Madara mutters. "I don't want to play this game anymore. If you're feeling unwell, it's fine! Everyone gets sick every once and a while. You aren't going to be in trouble for it, I promise! I know you don't want us doting on you but that doesn't mean you should just ignore what your body is trying to tell you," Madara snaps, pissed off now. "Uchiha stubbornness be damned. Itachi, you are by far the most _stubborn_ person I have ever met in the entire world!"

Itachi closes his eyes, not wanting his shame to show on his face. He knows he's not hiding his sickness well, but he can't bring himself to admit that something is wrong. He can't have anything holding him back from avenging Marume. If Madara knew that he was sick and it is as bad as Itachi believes that it is, then Itachi is going to die.

This sickness, gnawing on him from the inside, slowly but surely, is killing him. He knows that this is going to be the thing that kills him, he can just feel it. If he acknowledges it and lets people know about it, then Madara and Izuna will shift their focus from building up the village and hunting for Marume's - and Kawarama's - murders, but if they knew he was sick then they wouldn't be as focused on those things anymore. They wouldn't focus on the things that were important anymore, they would be focusing on him.

Madara's right. Itachi isn't a big fan of being doted on, but that's not the main reason that he didn't want his brothers to know. He doesn't want them to forget about the village and Marume. Itachi isn't more important than them. Them being the village, Marume and even Kawarama.

Itachi sits up slowly scooting closer to Madara and wrapping his arms around his older brother, pressing Madara's face to his shoulder. "I'm okay, Madara," Itachi lies. "I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me. I'm going to be fine. Focus on the village, okay? I know that you are worried about me, but this is your dream. If something happens that I can't handle, I'll let you know, I promise."

Madara lets out another long, deep sigh. "I'm worried about you, Itachi. You never say anything if something is wrong."

"I'm okay," Itachi says softly, pressing his hand against the back of Madara's head. "Trust me, brother. I'm going to be okay. Focus on your dream, it's your time to be happy, Madara, don't worry about me."

"Like hell I'm going to do that," Madara snaps, pulling back, his single visible eye is narrowed. "You are my baby brother, Itachi and kami damn it, as much as you don't like it you were cursed with a big brother that fucking loves you. _Two_ big brothers! No, three. Marume wouldn't want you to be in pain because of him. He wouldn't want you to blame yourself for his death. Hell, he probably wouldn't even want us to avenge his death but that doesn't matter. I was only given three little brothers, Itachi. One was taken away from me and I almost lost another one. I am _not_ going to lose another one, okay? Do you hear me, Itachi? It's just not going to happen."

Itachi nods slowly, jaw snapped shut. He didn't know what to say. He didn't even dare to open his mouth for fear of everything slipping through his lips. He knew that he was hurting his brothers, but he had his mind made up. He wasn't going to tell them about it. He wasn't going to let them worry about him anymore. They all have things that they have to do.

Keiichiharu was right. If the Reaper wasn't able to hold onto him and pull him into the afterlife, then there is no way in the world that these murders are going to be able to get away form him. He will hunt them tot he ends of the earth. He will find them and kill them. Be damned the consequences. Because if Madara is right about one thing, it's a combination of these two things; Itachi has three brothers that love him, and he's one of the most stubborn people on the planet.

"I am pretty hungry," Itachi says, releasing his grip on his brother. "Let us go see if dinner is done."

Madara lets outa little sigh. "Alright." He seems tired. "Let's go. I'm tired of arguing with you, Itachi."

"And I you, Madara." Itachi says, standing up. He holds a hand out for his brother to take. Madara does and Itachi pulls him to his feet. "Let's stop arguing for a bit, shall we?"

Madara sighs, but nods. "Yes, let's go." As the two brothers head to the door, Madara says, softly, as if to himself rather than Itachi, "You worry me, little brother, you just do."

Boy did Itachi know that.

* * *

"Hi."

Itachi pauses, looking around for the person who called out to him. He sees someone wave at him and it's Hashirama. He's sitting on the meeting building's porch with a bunch of papers sitting around him, scrolls and books too. All of them have something to do with seals. Itachi looks around for a moment, wondering if he should intrude or not, but Hashirama is the one who called out to him so it should be fine, right?

Itachi walks over to him and stops at the edge of the porch, glancing down at the seals. He knows a bit about seals, ever since Madara picked up on them, he's been learning a bit himself, but unlike most things, seals didn't come as easily. And truthfully, they weren't that interesting to him either. Some things he about them he understood right away, but most of the characters himself didn't make any sense.

So there is some things in the world that Itachi couldn't just pick it up easily. And Itachi was okay with that. It was relieving to know that not everything would just come to him. He would actually have to work at it.

"What are you doing?" Itachi asks, as if it weren't obvious.

"Studying seals," Hashirama says, letting out a tired sigh. "I'm getting closer to the secrets behind those... people, I just know it, but I still have a long way to go before I can find them, I think."

"How are you going to do it?" Itachi asks, glancing down at all the seals and diagrams placed thoughtlessly around him. If there was any sense of order with the way he placed things, it wasn't in a form that Itach could understand.

"I've come to learn that any great, skilled seal master leaves behind a signature in each and every seal that he or she does. Even groups are known to do it. Unfortunately, I don't known enough about seals to just know where to find them within the diagram or what they even mean when I find them. I've still got a lot to learn, I think." Hashirama rubs his forehead and sighs.

"You'll figure it out," Itachi says softly. "I believe in you."

Hashirama smiles. "Thank you," he says, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck, a blush coloring his cheeks. "I'm going to keep working hard, don't worry about that. I'm just not getting as far as I would like as quick as I would like, that's all." Hashirama takes a moment to look around at the scattered papers, books and scrolls. He lets out another sigh.

"You're too hard on yourself," Itachi says softly. He looks down at the seal workings around the Senju clan leader. He takes a moment to make a little space for him to sit before looking back over at Hashirama. "I know how hard you're working, Hashirama, it's alright. If anyone can figure this out, I have faith that it'll be you. There is no need to worry too much. Our saving grace may be that they have no idea that we are looking for them. If that is the case..."

Hashirama nods slowly. "Then we have time." Hashirama smiles thinly. "Thanks, I think I needed that. I've just been working kinda hard trying to get our village on it's feet while making sure that I don't forget about Kawarama or Marume. They don't deserve to be forgotten and it's reprehensible that they spent so long without justice. Perhaps I'm wearing myself a bit thin," Hashirama says softly, looking a hell of a lot more tired now than he did a moment ago. He wasn't lying. He really was working himself hard.

"You are doing fine," Itachi says, nodding once, more to himself than to Hashirama. "Don't be too hard on yourself."

Hashirama's smile broadens a bit. "Thank you for that. So, what about you? What are you doing right now?"

Itachi shakes his head. "Nothing really," he admits. "I actually just got back from a mission a few minutes ago and brought the payment to Tobirama. He says that we are doing good money wise and if we continue at this rate, you might actually get the wall you want to surround the village."

Hashirama's face breaks out into a huge smile. "No kidding? He really said that?" All the stress that was etching onto his face, disappears in an instant. "That would be great! We have a lot of natural defenses here with the large mountain at our back, but I believe it's necessary to build another barrier on the other side to better ensure our safety."

Itachi nods. "That's what Tobirama was telling me."

They sit in silence for a moment before Hashirama tentatively speaks up, "The mission you were on... was it from Gayumu-sama?"

Itachi looks at him curiously. "No, but so what if it was?"

Hashirama smiles thinly. "No, nothing. I'm just not sure how I feel about him, is all. I have to agree with Madara that maybe a bit of distance between the two of you would be okay."

Itachi rolls his eyes. "So you, Madara and Izuna have said many times. I understand that the situation makes you all uncomfortable, but it's really not nearly as big of a deal as you all seem to think it is. Don't tell me that sex is something that can only be done with the person that you love. My brother has already proven that that is not the case. Izuna, not Madara. Izuna will have sex with anything with a pair of breasts. Madara... well he's got a bit more common sense, but I've seen him sneak out at night and return in the wee hours of the morning. He's just smart enough not to leave a literal trail of women in his wake."

Hashirama shakes his head. "No, that's not what I'm saying at all, Itachi. In just a few short days, you will be a legal adult. You have the right to make whatever choices you want to make. Thankfully in shinobi culture, it's not frowned upon for a man to share his bed with another man or a woman to share her bed with another woman, but not everyone is as open-minded."

Itachi crosses his arms over his chest. "Then why are all of you giving me a hard time this?"

Hashirama sighs. "It's not the prospect of you... being with a man..." Hashirama says tentatively. "Well, maybe a bit of that is for Madara and Izuna, but that's just big brothers being big brothers, but it's like you are willing to give up your body for the sake of our village, our dream. It's... unfair for you to have to sacrifice yourself in such a way for that. It's one thing to have sex with someone because you want to, and an entirely different thing to have sex with someone because you were forced to. I think that is the core of where all of our protest comes from."

Itachi turns away for a moment to stare out over their little village, watching as people walk by, stopping for just a moment to speak with one another, before moving on with their day. It was early evening and the world was starting to cool down as night began to draw near. Itachi stands up, stepping onto the porch and leaning down close to Hashirama, able to look right into his curious brown eyes.

"So, if I was interested in having sex with a man, then no one would really protest to my wishes," Itachi says softly, long thin black lashes drooping low over his pitch black eyes. "Interesting." With that, Itachi straightens up and turns back around, heading back toward the man street to head home. He brings up a hand to wave goodbye without looking back, leaving a stunned Hashirama in his wake.

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. kim123kn: Aww thank you! That's super sweet of you to say! I know! Haha, I just had to throw that in there, I don't know why! Sorry about the wait!_

 _2\. xTsuizuru: My stories? You read multiple ones? Aww, thank you so much! You are too kind!_

 _3\. Tamani: Really, thanks. I thought it would be a little cryptic to put in there. :3 Yeah, it'll definitely be a sight to see. I wonder how they'll take it. .o Thanks so much!_

 _4\. myriad-souls: Hmmm, I wonder. :D Thank you so much for reading it!_

 _5\. Guest 1: Thank you!_

 _6\. Kios Denlion: Yep, me too. :3_

 _7\. TheSilenceIsVast: Got it. :)_

 _8\. Psychowee: Thank you. Sorry for the wait!_

 _9\. SprinkleLover: Yeah, Keiichiharu is one smart cookie. Thank you very much!_

 _10\. saashi samy: Thank you. :3_

 _11\. RHatch89: Thanks. :D_

 _12\. Guest 2: Yep, I know. I put it down wrong the first time, thought I edited it out the when I went back but I guess it didn't save. But thanks! And thanks again!_

 _13\. DeadGirl15: Thank you for saying that! Sorry about the wait. As for your question concerning why Itama is alive now when he wasn't in cannon, is the same reason that Izuna is alive: things are changing. :3_

 _14\. Guest 3: Thank you! Sorry for the wait!_

 _15\. Hiira: Thank you very much! Yeah, Itachi is super precious to me. I would hate for anything horrible to happen to him, but alas, the story must go on. :-/_

 _16\. Guest 4: *Jumps to my laptop* You got it!_

 _17\. OniBlue: In one night! Amazing! Aww, thank you for saying that!_

 _18\. Guest 5: I know exactly what you mean. Itachi is bae and it's hard to be so mean to him. T.T_


	10. Vow

**Author's Note: And there we go! A chapter that has been long awaited for! I am super sorry about the wait, everyone! I have absolutely no excuse! But I just love hearing all that you have to say, and it has really helped spur me on! I really appreciate it! Anyway, let me know what you think! I'm going to bed now! Night!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the OC's I create.**

 **Warnings: Language, OOCness, un-beta'd.**

 **Word Count: 5,141**

Itachi frowns, staring at Madara who stood across from him. The Uchiha and Senju, gathered for Itachi's birthday, sit around outside the barrier that was erected around their mini arena. Itachi rubs the back of his neck, dreading this moment. Not so much the fight with Madara, he's trained with his oldest brother plenty of times before, but he doesn't like the spectacle. He just didn't like being the center of attention. It was bad enough that his birthday happened to fall after their alliance was formed - well the first of the two families - but he was extremely against everyone staring at him.

It was abhorrent enough that his brothers seem to make him the sole focus in their lives, nine out of ten times, and it was just another time to add to his list. It just tires him out. And with the other half of his exhaustion stems from his declining health.

A few days ago, when Itachi had his talk with Hashirama, he told the Senju clan leader that it was okay, that he knew that Hashirama would try his best and be able to find the people responsible. But somewhere in the back of his mind, Itachi wished that he would hurry. Itachi never really thought about death - which is surprising considering he's from a warring clan therefore surrounded by death, and his own near-death experience as a young boy - but now that his health is steadily declining more and more, he's becoming more aware of his own mortality.

Itachi does believe that Hashirama is very much capable of being the one who will crack the code and figure out who's responsible for Marume and Kawarama's deaths, but Itachi just wished it was coming along quicker. He knows that Hashirama is doing the best he can, but Itachi is starting to get anxious. Darker and darker thoughts keep creeping into the forefront of his mind.

What if Hashirama can't crack the code within the seal in time? What if Itachi doesn't live long enough to be able to stop them? What is they are too powerful for him to stop them? Who else, or what else, will Itachi lose before this is all said and done?

Itachi's fingers twitch anxiously.

Madara gives a long winded speech about the pride of the Uchiha and what this coming of age ceremony for the main branch means for the future of the clan and how he had high hopes for Itachi, as he did with Izuna. Itachi just held onto his left elbow loosely with his right hand, politely listening to his brother talk, eyes scanning the crowd, their faces. No one looks familiar to him from the Senju other than Hashirama, Tobirama and Itama, and then there was his family. Everyone looking between him and Madara in anticipation.

Itachi's eyes lock with Izuna's. His older brother is staring at him with a smirk. Itachi smiles back faintly.

Izuna wasn't originally happy about the alliance with the Senju, but he's been getting better with it, in fact, he's not so mad anymore. He has actually been relaxing more and more since they formed the alliance. It's was a bit odd at first, since Izuna didn't really know what to do with himself without having an enemy in the Senju, but now that he's gotten use to it and is evens starting to see them less as allies and more as friends, his entire demeanor, especially when dealing with the opposite clan, has become a lot more positive and forthcoming with them.

"Are you alright?" Izuna mouths to him. Itachi nods.

"I'm okay," he mouths back before turning his attention back to Madara, who's finally finishing what he was saying.

"Alright," Madara says, turning to Itachi. "Are you ready, Itachi?"

"I am, brother," Itachi says. "Whenever you are."

Madara brings his left hand to the back of his right and touches the seal there. His armor doesn't appear around him but his gunbai fan and scythe are clenched in his hands. He nods over at the Uchiha in charge of the protective barrier. They set it up and nod to him when it's up and stable.

"Alright, Itachi," Madara says, smiling over at his youngest brother, "let's dance, shall we?"

Itachi shakes his head, unable to stop the smile crossing over his lips. "Very well, brother, let us see how much better you've gotten since your battle with Izuna."

Madara grins. "Prepare yourself, baby brother."

Itachi nods, pulling out his own set of kunai, knowing that they wouldn't stand against his brother's main weapons of choice, but felt better having them out anyway, he had to think quick. This was a big deal to the Uchiha. Madara was going to make him work for his victory, if he can get it. Itachi didn't really mind one way or another if he won or lost.

But it's important to his family, so he will try hard to make them proud. Well, more specifically Madara and Izuna. He loved his family, a lot, but the ones that meant the most of him was his two remaining brothers.

Madara charges at Itachi immediately, gunbai fan swinging around, whizzing through the air, slicing it open, flying past his face and limbs and narrowly avoiding his chest and stomach. Itachi immediately regretted not really picking up any skills in the sword like Izuna or a fan and scythe like Madara. While his brother had become afficient at swinging that large fan around, Itachi was still quick enough to avoid it.

And that's just barely.

Itachi puts as much distance between himself and Madara for a moment, throwing his kunai to occupy him for a split second, before doing a series of handsigns before spitting a ball of fire. But unsurprisingly, Madara already had one of his own prepared, breathing it out at him as well. When the two flames mashed into one another, the inferno roared. The air immediately warmed up, getting hot in moments.

Itachi was strong, he had a strong affinity for fire. But not nearly as strong as Madara's affinity, and Itachi was feeling it. Madara was breathing actual fire rather than chakra that took on the form of fire, like Itachi's.

But Itachi was unique in the sense that his weakness element is water, which is also his natural element. He's a duo elemental one being the weakness of the other. It's a source of great pride for his clan. It's useful in a shinobi sense for him, but it's not something that needs a bunch of hot air being blown around for. It really wasn't that big of a deal. Not really.

His clan were experts of blowing shit out of proportion. It drives Itachi crazy.

Itachi and Madara dance around one another for a few moments; quick jabs here, wide swipes there and even a few thrown and deflected kunai and shuriken. It didn't take long for Itachi to realize that he was tiring quickly. He didn't have the energy to let this battle draw out, even though that was kind of the point of the entire thing.

People whisper and ohh and ahh watching over the two bothers fighting. Itachi wasn't much of a jutsu specialist in comparison to a lot of other Uchiha. While it is natural that he has quite a few jutsu in his arsenal, he wasn't like Madara, he didn't focus a lot on that aspect. It was more genjutsu that was Itachi's specialty and unfortunately for him, that wasn't something that he was willing to use on Madara. But on the plus side, with their arena being so small, Madara wasn't able to use a lot of his area-of-affect jutsu to try and catch Itachi off guard. it all had to be very small and precise.

Itachi takes a wrong step, pausing for a brief moment before Madara's leg rockets out and lands a solid, exceedingly painful blow right to the gut, sending Itachi flying back. He landed onto his back and rolled over the top of his head and onto his hands and knees. Normally such a blow would have knocked the wind out of him but wouldn't have done much more than that.

But Itachi could only be thankful for, in that moment, that he was already doubled over in pain because it took all of his will power not to let out a cry of pain as his eyes watered and blood filled his mouth. He slowly spits out the mouthful of blood and just stays there on his hands and knees, frozen in place for a moment while he tries to force the pain in his stomach away. It was as if all of the gods and goddesses that the Uchiha prayed to were all mocking him with that somehow justified kick to the gut.

Never before has Madara ever aimed for such a vulnerable part of the body, especially on Itachi, it seems only fated that it would happen now that Itachi wouldn't be able to take the hit without feeling like he tripped and fell into his grave with only moments to scramble out before the dirt fell over it. Itachi's stomach has been hurting him for a long time but he's been able to start ignoring it, but this was a very, _very_ painful reminder that it wasn't something that would easily be forgotten for long.

Itachi squeezes his eyes shut tightly. He takes in deep, shuttering breaths, trying to calm down his racing heart beat and ache within his stomach.

There is a moment of pause, where Itachi realized that he was doubled over for too long.

"Itachi?" Madara calls out. He takes a few moments to look down at his baby brother before taking a few steps closer, eyebrows pulling together in worry. Itachi couldn't really hear anything over the rapid, heavy pounding of his heart and the roar his blood in his ears.

Itachi takes a deep breath, spitting out the last bit of drool and blood from his mouth. It's only when Madara is right in front of him that Itachi remembered that he couldn't stay this way. He had to move now, or then everyone will know that something is very wrong with him.

Impulsively, something that is foreign to Itachi, he reacted on instinct. He couldn't let any of them think that he was hurt too badly from that strike. He had to make it seem like this was all a trick. Without thinking, Itachi summoned the bones of the orange god to push Madara done to the ground, pinning him in place and no doubt catching him off guard.

Itachi smoothly slides up his brother's body, pointing a kunai to his throat, staring down into Madara's wide red eyes. As soon as Itachi's mind clears a bit from the pain and slight panic, he realized what he did and his eyes widen. Instead of the worry, his attention morphed completely into horror and shame. Itachi drops the kunai next to Madara's head and sends the Typhoon God away, hands shaking.

"I'm sorry," Itachi whispers, red eyes shifting back into their regular black color. "Madara, I am so sorry. I... I don't..."

Absolute horror coils around Itachi's entire being as his eyes widen as far as they can go, shimmering with tears. He turned Susanoo against his older brother. Every action against his brothers have always been precise and planned and perfect in their own way to make the fight real enough without actually really running the risk of hurting his brothers in a way they wouldn't heal from, but not that moment. Not that move. That was all instinct. Itachi was ready to kill Madara in order to save himself, feeling like he was legitimately in danger.

For that moment, Itachi saw his life as more important than Madara's.

That chilled Itachi to the bone and made him feel like the most disgusting creature on the planet. For a single, split second, Itachi was ready to kill his brother in order to protect himself. And that just isn't acceptable.

"I'm sorry," Itachi whispers, dark eyes shimmering with tears. This dark, evil wiggling thing in his gut and in his mind is poking and gnawing at him, as if tauntingly the more he thinks about it. He didn't mean to, and he would never live with himself if he ever did, but he was going to hurt Madara. He was going to protect himself enough where he'd either hurt Madara or kill him.

Had it been a more serious fight, Madara may have saw that coming and been perfectly fine, but it wasn't. Itachi was never in any danger in a battle against his big brother yet this sickness inside of him was messing with his wiring.

Itachi closes his eyes for a moment, trying to calm himself down. He shoves down the feelings of pain and worry and self-hatred because he doesn't want to feel it now, surrounded by all these people. Not looking down into the eyes of his holder brother, no doubt his face is belying all of those things to the Uchiha clan leader. He didn't want Madara to see anymore than he already has.

"I am sorry, brother," Itachi whispers to Madara.

Madara sits up slowly, not seeming to care that they had an audience. "Itachi..."

Itachi holds his hand out for Madara to take. He does and pushes himself to his feet, dusting off his regular dark blue clothes, branded with their family crest on his back. He sends his fan away, starting down at Itachi with this look in his eyes that says that moment didn't go unnoticed. That Itachi's physical distress didn't fall on blind eyes and even if no one else in the world saw the shift in Itachi, Madara did.

Which always seemed to be the case. Even though Marume was Itachi's twin, and they were connected in a way that almost unnatural because of their place as twins, there was something about the connection Itachi had with Madara that was beyond natural understanding. There has been this connection to Madara that Itachi has been able to feel since the moment he lost his memories. No one else in the room, not even his own twin brother, resounded in his mind as much as his eldest brother did.

Itachi doesn't remember what his relationship with Madara was like before he lost his memory, but according to Izuna, Itachi was Madara's. Madara has always been a very loving person and always preferred the company of children over adults anyway. He may not be very good with them and while interacting with them wasn't something he was good at. He just prefer to sit back and watch them, ensure that they are safe and happy.

Perhaps that is why Madara has such a connection to Hashirama. Hashirama is basically a small child trapped in an adult's body, most of the time.

Anyway, Itachi was Madara's. Everyone always said that. Itachi was enraptured by Madara and would follow him everywhere. Itachi was perfect to Madara. He was like a large adult, trapped in a small child's body. If Itachi ever wanted anything, Madara was usually the one to get it for him, more often than not. So long as it was something within his power to be able to get or do, Madara would do it for Itachi.

A part of Itachi wondered if that had something to do with the connection between them, but he didn't know for certain.

Madara has always been his go-to brother.

Itachi bows his head and listens to his eldest brother give some kind of ending speech to the spectators to close out the ceremony. Itachi just stood there for a long time, listening to the sound of his brother talking, not able to even lift his chin a centimeter because of the maelstrom of shame spinning around in his gut. He just couldn't believe that he struck out against his own brother. Against Madara.

As much as he would like to joke and say he may take a swipe at Izuna once a blue moon, it wasn't in him. He never wanted to hurt any of his brothers. They were too important to him, and yet he attacked Madara. While that was the point of this coming of age ceremony, Itachi never really thought to take this seriously because he didn't really care what the rest of his family thought, especially about him.

If he had the choice, he wouldn't have done that fight at all, but it was out of respect for his oldest brother. It was something that Madara cared about it, so Itachi was going to play along for his brother's sake.

But now he wished that he hadn't. Itachi wanted nothing more than to run away and hide in a hole that he would never have to come out of. Even if the people around him thought it was a great battle and that Itachi was victorious, they were wrong. Itachi was no better than dirt on the ground. He should not be out here, doing this. He was not feeling well and today was one of the bad days and now he has this settling on his conscience.

Itachi's stomach is still throbbing painfully. Nothing that he couldn't ignore, but each push against the inside of his belly was light adding a thousand pounds to Itachi's mood, and it adds to the lump in his throat.

Itachi's eyes peak up just once to lock eyes with the kind brown of the Senju clan leader. Hashirama has a look on his face that Itachi didn't understand, but didn't want to. He knew the moment he saw Hashirama that the man had seen perhaps more than most others had and that just wasn't something that Itachi wanted to deal with either. Madara and Izuna are going to be bad enough, but no matter how much he liked Hashirama, the man was too good to have to deal with someone like Itachi.

That and maybe Itachi just didn't want to deal with his own problems, having already resigned himself to his painful, lonely end at the metaphorical hand of the sickness in his body. While he may have accepted it, he knew his brothers wouldn't and Hashirama was too kind to.

Once it was over and Madara had said his peace, Itachi didn't wait a moment before rushing away, too ashamed to be able to stay by his brother's side. Itachi just had to get away, especially since he knew that his brother was not going to let this go. While Itachi was no longer close to tears, he still felt like he was paper thin. He was too tired and scared and just wanted to be alone, which he knows isn't something that his brothers aren't going to let go.

As Itachi had suspected, it didn't take long for his brother to corner him just outside of the boundaries of the village. Itachi just brushed past Madara, not wanting to talk to Madara, but he knew that wouldn't fly. Madara caught his arm as he walked past and held him in place.

"Itachi..." Madara says, sounding as if he had so much he wanted to say, but the look on his showed that he just didn't know how to put it all into words.

"I'm sorry, nii-sama," Itachi says softly, turning his head away from Madara. "I can't believe I used Susanoo on you. I didn't intend to do that. Forgive me."

"I don't care about that," Madara says flatly.

"What the hell was that, Itachi?" Izuna asks, stepping up next to Madara. "Itachi-"

"I'm fine," Itachi says, closing his eyes. Madara and Izuna don't respond and for a moment, Itachi wondered if they were just going to turn and walk away but he knew such thoughts were too good to be true. After today, there was no way they weren't going to badger Itachi until he spilled all of his dirty secrets. Until he admits to what is happening to him.

"That's it," Madara snaps, swinging Itachi around until he's got a steel grip on both of Itachi's arms so that he can't move and has no choice but to stare, surprised, into the eyes of his big brother. "Itachi, I am sick of this bullshit. Tell me what is wrong right now." He glares down at Itachi.

Itachi looks away, spotting Hashirama standing off to the side, large brown eyes worried but unreadable otherwise. There is something in there that Itachi can't understand. But there is also pleading. He wants Itachi to be okay and is respectful enough to Madara to let him try and deal with this himself. But Hashirama will remain close to help Madara because that's the type of friend that he is.

"Itachi," Izuna says, when Itachi opened his mouth to protest once more, "we saw the blood. There was a lot." His voice is hitched a bit in worry. "Please, just tell us what's wrong. Did Madara accidently hit you in your bout? Are you mad about something else?"

Itachi shakes his head. "I can't say," he says, voice soft with shame. He hates that his brothers would have to worry about him like this. He wish there was something that he could do to turn their attention elsewhere, where it belonged. "We have to focus on Marume..."

There is a strained silence that follows. Not even Izuna, who always has something to say, says anything. He doesn't even move, yet the air around them grows tense and strained.

"Itachi, let me tell you something," Madara says, voice eerily calm.

"Yes..?" Itachi says quietly, staring at the tiny patch of grass between their feet.

"Dammit, Itachi, look at me," Madara snaps.

Itachi obeys, raising his eyes up to Madara's. Itachi was always a good boy. He always did as he was told and never talked back to Madara or their father. Itachi was never chastised or yelled at. He's not used to someone raising their voice like that to him, which was odd for a sixteen year old boy.

"I love Marume," Madara says, voice flat. "He is my little brother and I love him and miss him like you wouldn't believe. It is my job, my privilege, as an older brother to take care of my younger siblings, and one of them is now gone. I would give just about anything to have him back and when I find the _fuckers_ who killed my little brother I will skin them alive and throw them into a salt mine. I will put them in Tsukuyomi and torture them until I can't think of any more ways to destroy them. Then, I will allow Izuna a chance, and when he can think of nothing more, than you. _That_ is my promise to you, Itachi. _That_ is the fate of the people who took my little brother away from me."

Itachi didn't know what to say. Staring into Madara's eyes now, the devil stared back at him. All of the gods that the Uchiha prayed to all stood at Madara's side, as if they were enraged by what happened to Marume and were acting out their anger through Madara. He was the embodiment of it. Madara was a man, no longer in those moments, but a weapon that is ready to slice through it's enemies without the slightest hitch.

Madara's rage simmers again, but the tenseness in his body, like a wild animal preparing to strike, remains. "I will tell you what I won't do," Madara says, staring deep into Itachi's black eyes with his own. "I will not sacrifice you. Marume is dead. It is cruel and unusual and should be a horrible nightmare, that I wish every day I would awaken from, but for now, he is dead. Nothing can bring him back. And whatever is happening with you is not going to help bring him back or avenge him quicker. If you do not get help, then I will not hunt for Marume's killer."

Izuna and Itachi stare at Madara as if he had lost his bloody mind - and it's obvious that he had!

"What are you saying?" Itachi asks, eyes wide and voice strained. "You will not hunt for those that have killed Marume?"

Madara shakes his head.

"Madara!" Izuna gasps. "What the actual hell is happening right now?"

"Listen to me, both of you," Madara snaps, looking between his two younger brothers. "I was only given three bothers in this world and I've already lost one of them. I will not sacrifice either of you for Marume. He will not come back even if I did. You can hate me for it, but this is my family. This is my clan. This is _my_ choice."

That was unbelievable. Madara had never used the clan leader card on them. Ever.

"You can't do that!" Itachi protests, shaking his head. He couldn't believe his ears.

Madara stares down at Itachi with the coldest, most angry look, Itachi has ever seen. "Try me," Madara growls. "I am the clan leader. If you want to do it differently, fight me, kill me, take my title."

Itachi submits immediately. That was _definitely_ not going to happen. Izuna is cowed too. He wasn't going to physically fight Madara, either. Especially not to the death.

"No?" Madara asks, haughtily. "Good. Now listen to me closely. We are going to get these bastards, Itachi, but we all need to be in tip-top shape to do it. We don't know who they are or what they have at their disposal, so we have to be prepared for anything. Do you understand me?" He looks at Itachi, but glances over at Izuna to show that he wasn't in any way not included in this.

Both brothers nod slowly.

"Now," Madara looks back at Itachi. "What is wrong with you? What can you not tell me?"

Itachi's throat swells closed and he couldn't speak. He didn't want to admit what was happening to him - in fact he wished it wasn't at all so that he wouldn't have to ever think about it - but even though he knew now for certain that Madara wasn't going to let him leave this place without knowing the answer, Itachi just couldn't find the words.

His watery, dark eyes flicker over to Hashirama, who was staring back at him, as if trying to see something but it wasn't making sense to him. There was just something about Hashirama that was so alluring to Itachi. His dark eyes held this unbelievable power and assuredness that Itachi isn't surprised that he is such a successful leader, loved by his allies and family while feared by his enemies. Hashirama was like hurricane; unpredictable and devastatingly powerful, but there was a calmness about him. A beauty that wasn't easily described.

Hashirama's eyes promised him something, in that moment that their eyes connected. Hashirama promised to help him, no matter what it was. Hashirama was called a bleeding heart by many, Itachi's brothers and even Hashirama's brothers being the foremost runners, and it showed. He could be the kindest, most gentle person in the world, capable of intermixing with the local wildlife and fauna that lives and grows in the Land of Fire, but he was also very dangerous. The moment he learned the truth about his own brother's death being one of those moments.

That was just a shadow of Hashirama's power, Itachi realized. And when the moment comes when Hurricane Hashirama blows through, Itachi isn't so certain anyone will make it out alive.

It was that stark contrast that compelled him. Hashirama was nature. He was beautiful in his peaceful and serene moments, and in his dangerous and deadly ones. It's no surprise that he has such a strong connection with nature. It's who he is.

Staring into Hashirama's eyes gave Itachi a form of strength that was always bubbling inside of him that only showed itself when he really needed it - like now. And even though he still didn't want to do it, didn't want to say and give a name to what was happening to him, he knew that he had to. While he would never agree to calling off the search for those that killed Marume and Kawarama - and a part of him is willing to believe that if he was really daring he would probably be able to call Madara out on his words - he knew that his older brother was right.

If Itachi wanted to tare the people who killed his brother limb from limb, then he had to be strong enough to take a hit to the belly by his older brother who went into that battle with the intension not to cause too much physical harm.

Madara was right. Itachi had to be strong.

"What can't you say?" Izuna asks, mistaking Itachi's long silence as fear for speaking rather than gathering the courage to do so.

"Itachi?" Madara says softly, the dangerous look in his eyes, posture and words gone now as he reverts back to the man he has always been. Itachi's unyieldingly loving big brother.

Itachi looks between Madara and Izuna, voice terribly soft and broken, feeling the weight of his words heavily on his shoulders. It brings his physical pain to admit it, but he knows he has to. He will never let the people who killed his brother get away with it. "I.." Itachi says slowly, steeling himself before saying, "I am in an unbelievable amount of pain right now."


	11. The Painful Truth

**Author's Note: Hey everyone! I am so super sorry about the long wait for this chapter! I know, I don't have a good excuse, so much has been going on in my life and I've been working on other projects, but I haven't given up on this story. I do want to finish it and I know where I want to go, it's just getting there that's taxing. Don't worry! I haven't given up and hearing from y'all has really helped push me along! I do enjoy hearing from all of you! Thank you all for over 200 reviews! I appreciate it! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the OC's I create.**

 **Warnings: Language, OOCness, un-beta'd, talk of death.**

 **Word Count: 4,568**

Madara stares back at Itachi with his eyebrows pulled together tightly. "What? What does that mean?"

Itachi turns away a bit, not able to look into Madara's eyes anymore. Too ashamed. He raises his eyes slowly to see Hashirama staring at him, eyebrows pulled together tightly. He didn't know what else to do. There is no way that Madara and Izuna are going to just let him continue to get away with this. Damn! Why couldn't he have just surrounded himself with people who honestly didn't give a shit about his physical health so long as he was still doing his job and managing it in his own way. Why did he have to have wonderful brothers and friends who unfortunately gave a fuck?

"I'm dying, Madara," Itachi says softly, looking up at his big brother's wide black eyes.

"What are you saying?" Madara asks blandly, obviously not liking Itachi's words. If Itachi was to bust out laughing and say that this was all a joke, he's about two hundred percent certain Madara would beat the ever loving hell out of him. There would be a moment of surprise, then of disbelief, then rage and that would be the last thing Itachi would ever see. Madara would beat the ever loving hell out of him until he would never be able to walk or talk again, nurse him back to health, only to do it again.

If only Itachi was joking.

Itachi didn't know if he could even form the words. He's not even sure what to say beyond that. His dark eyes rise to the only person who might be able to say something, Hashirama. Itachi walks over to him, stopping in front of him before reaching out and taking his hand and putting it on his chest, staring up into Hashirama's kind brown eyes.

"Feel," Itachi says at Hashirama's confused look.

"Feel what?" Hashirama asks slowly.

"Inside." Itachi closes his eyes, letting out a shaky breath. Hashirama stares down at him, understandably confused before he sends chakra to his hand. Even with his eyes closed, Itachi could practically see the crease forming between Hashirama's eyebrows as his other hand lands on his stomach, sending chakra there too. He hears Hashirama gasp softly as he slowly moves his hands across Itachi's chest and stomach.

Hashirama starts shaking his head. His dark brown eyes are staring at his dark blue shirt, but they aren't seeing it. His 'sight' is on the inside of Itachi's body.

"Kami," Hashirama whispers, the horror evident in his voice.

"What?" Izuna asks, looking at them with wide, pitch black eyes. Now if Hashirama was joking around, Madara and Izuna would beat the hell out of him.

Hashirama shakes his head a little bit more, his hands moving more frantic across Itachi's chest and stomach. It's kind of odd to Itachi, having someone touching him like that, but he knew that he had to ignore it. It was too late to go back now, no matter what. Even if he wanted to.

Hashirama's eyebrows pull together tightly, brown eyes flickering back and forth, not seeing with his eyes but with his hands.

"Hashirama," Madara says, his voice completely toneless, the muscles along his throat and jaw are working. "Hashirama, what is going on?"

Hashirama pulls his hands away, blinking a few times to focus in on Itachi's face. He studies the younger boy for a moment, while Itachi closes his shirt back up, tying it into place. Hashirama reaches out toward Itachi again, like he wants to grab hold of the younger boy and pull him to his chest, but his hands close into tight fists and a pained look crosses over his face.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Hashirama asks softly.

"I didn't want anyone to worry about me," Itachi admits. "And..." he hesitates, before confessing, "I honestly didn't care."

Hashirama flinches, like Itachi's words were a physical slap to his face. "Not care?" Hashirama echoes. "Not _care_? How can you not care about your own health? Itachi, do you have any idea how bad this is?"

"I do," Itachi says calmly, staring up into the Senju Patriarch's eyes.

Hashirama shakes his head. "I don't think you do! You wouldn't be so calm if you knew what I do! If you saw what I did!" Itachi can see Madara and Izuna exchanging alarmed looks in his peripheral.

Itachi reaches up and tucks a loose strand of hair behind his ear. "I'm going to die young, right?" Izuna and Madara practically yelp in alarm, snapping their necks toward him.

"Not just that," Hashirama says, his voice a mixture of panicked and angry, "but _soon_!" He looks desperate for Itachi to feel the same kind of alarm that he - and Itachi's brothers now - feel. But none of this was news to him. Itachi knew, right away, that this sickness was going to kill him. He was going to die from this. It was as simple as that.

"I know," Itachi says.

"What is happening?" Madara asks, his voice laced with rage. "He's sick?"

"Very," Hashirama says, looking over at Madara. "I don't even know how to tell you."

"Just say it," Madara snarls. "I can take it."

Judging by the look on Hashirama, Itachi's not the only one who didn't buy that in the slightest. Hashirama looks over at Itachi and asks, instead, "Do you know what it's doing to you?"

Itachi shakes his head. "Not really. Just that it hurts is all."

"I bet it does," Hashirama says, brokenly. "I bet it hurts so bad. Itachi, this sickness is liquefying your organs. They are covered in some sort of horrible substance that is breaking them down. I have no idea how you are functioning."

"Poison?" Izuna asks, faint hope in his voice. If it's poison, they might be able to fix it.

Hashirama shakes his head. "Not that I saw. It's your body turning against you. I've never seen anything like this before. Why, Itachi, why? Why didn't you ever say anything to me! I would have helped you."

Itachi smiles ruefully at Hashirama. "I know you would have. But I don't want your help. I don't want anyone's help. I want to find the bastards that killed my brother, and yours," he looks between Hashirama and Tobirama, who probably came to see what was going on, standing off to the side like he wasn't part of the conversation, before looking at his own brothers, "and I didn't want you guys to focus on me. I want to avenge Marume and Kawarama. I don't care about me."

"You don't care about us, either?" Madara asks, chillingly, his eyes narrowed.

Itachi is surprised by his question. "No, of course I care about you. And Izuna."

"You have a hell of a way of showing it," Izuna says bitterly, glaring at him, while Madara is shaking his head.

"No, you don't. You don't care about us. If you cared about Izuna and I, you would do everything you could to take care of yourself, to make sure that you would be able to stay with us for as long as humanly possible." Madara looks absolutely pissed. Itachi understands it, to a degree, but he can't bring himself to feel bad about it. It's how he feels. He doesn't care about himself, but he does care about his brothers. Would he love to be able to spend the rest of his life with his brothers? Sure, he would. But it's not realistic. He's in this world because he wasn't strong enough to get to Marume in time. It should have been Marume that was with them instead of Itachi.

But it wasn't.

"I love you," Itachi says, looking between Madara and Izuna. "I really do. But I won't let you guilt me into fighting for something I don't care about."

"Why?" Izuna snaps. "Why don't you care about yourself? Damn it! You are the most selfish person I have ever met! You think it makes you selfless to want no one to bother themselves with you? No, it makes you stupid! You're a damned idiot!" Izuna is seething with anger, his body shaking hard trying to contain it. Angry tears wet his eyes and his fists tremble at his side.

Itachi doesn't say anything. He doesn't know what to say, and even if he did, he knows that his brothers both don't want to hear it and won't like it any more than his silence. So he keeps his mouth shut. He just looks at his older brother, taking a moment to read the pain on his body and face and in his eyes. It's reminiscent to the moment Marume died. He can recall looking at his brother, angry tears in his eyes and shaking, wanting to reach out and punch the person closest to him, some way of trying to release the anger and pain in his body but not knowing how to let it out.

"How long has this been going on?" Madara asks, his voice completely flat, his dark eyes threatening. If Itachi lied about anything right at that moment, he's not sure how his eldest brother would react.

"I started to feel it after the war ended," Itachi says. "Maybe I felt it before but never noticed, I don't know. I just know that once the war was over was when I realized it was happening."

"Why didn't you say anything to me?" Madara asks.

"I didn't care," Itachi says and realizes as soon as the words left his mouth that it was the wrong thing to say - even if it was the truth.

Madara throws him to the ground and hovers over the top of him, hands filled with Itachi's shirt. Itachi's not going to lie, being thrown to the hard ground sent a throbbing pain through his body, but he didn't outwardly react, that would just fuel his brothers' rage even more. Hashirama calls out to him, yelling at him that he couldn't be rough with Itachi, not with his insides the way they were, but Madara wasn't listening.

"Why?" Madara screams at him, slamming his fist right next to Itachi's head, making him flinch. "Why don't you care? Why? Why? Why? Why? _Why?"_ Dust is kicked up in his repeated punching of the ground making it harder for Itachi to be able to breath, but he doesn't say anything. He's too busy staring at his eldest brother's broken face. "How can you care so much about other's but not about yourself? Why?"

Itachi doesn't respond, he doesn't know what to say. He simply didn't, it was as simple as that. Some days, it felt easier to have never existed in the first place, but he wasn't the type of person to just end his life, he just didn't care much to live through it. It was just something that he was doing until it was over. He's not sure why he felt that way, just that he did.

"You are okay with me having to bury another baby brother?" Madara yells, glaring down at him with impossibly wide, black eyes. "You are okay with Izuna and I being alone in this world? You're okay with that?"

Itachi shakes his head. "No. I..."

"Don't care about your life, I know, I heard you," Madara growls, staring down at him through long, wet lashes. "You would rather die a slow, painful death than have a smidge of attention on you. I don't understand. I'll never understand. I want you. I want your life more than I want Marume's murders to pay!"

Itachi shakes his head more. "Don't say that. Marume's-"

"Dead, Itachi, he's dead," Madara says cruelly. "He's not going to come back, even if I slaughter the bastards that took him from us. I don't want to watch one brother wither away to nothing while we are trying to avenge the death of another brother that we might never to able to avenge. Who knows how many years it would take to do that, even if we managed to find them? What if you aren't even strong enough to help us, have you thought about that?"

No, admittedly. He hadn't thought about weakening. He was in pain, yes, he was dying too, but he wasn't weakening. Not really. Nothing too noticeable. At least, not yet. He hadn't thought about that. He had been so busy trying not to think about himself, that he hadn't considered that before he dies, he might be weak before then. He can't afford to be weak, though. He has to be strong so that he could find the person who killed Marume. He had to be there when they found the people who killed Marume, and make them pay.

Itachi didn't say it aloud, but the look on his face was enough for Madara to get it.

Madara's face is twisted in pain and he slowly pulls himself away, looking destroyed. His shoulders are slumped in defeat and his dark eyes are unbelievably sad. He turns away from them, heartbroken.

"Madara?" Itachi calls out to his eldest brother. Madara is so subdued right now. He's never seen Madara like this before. He looks so utterly defeated, like a man who has resigned himself to failure. It's alarming to see that look on his big brother's face. "Madara?"

Madara shakes his head slowly, unable to look at Itachi. "I can't deal with you right now. I can't with a clear head."

Itachi pushes himself to his feet, ignoring the throbbing in his stomach. "Aniki-"

Madara shakes his head again, quickly. "No, I can't. Leave me be." With that, Madara storms off, shoulder bowed deeply in defeat and pain. Izuna looks after him, wanting to follow after him, even taking a step in his direction, before turning to Itachi, mentally warring with something before stepping up to Itachi and wrapping his arms around Itachi, hugging him close.

The action is surprising, to say the least. They weren't very touchy feely with one another. At least not this way. A pat on the shoulder or a playful shove tended to be the extent of it, with the rare exception, so this was a very odd feeling. Itachi was in so much shock, he didn't have time to react to his brother's action until he was already pulling away, looking up at his older brother with large dark eyes.

Izuna looks sad. "I wish you would cherish your life even a smidge as much as we do." With that, Izuna takes off after Madara, leaving Itachi standing there with his arms hanging at his side. This wasn't how he wanted his birthday to go. Not that he cared too much for the day itself, but over the years his brothers always found a way to make him feel special enough whether he wanted to or not.

Maybe he's been taking their doting for granted.

"Come," Hashirama says, reaching out and touching his shoulder. "Let me take a look at you."

* * *

Itachi sits in the middle of Hashirama's neat bedroom with the top of his yukata pooled around his waist as Hashirama sits behind him, hands roaming over his pale back, getting a really good look at what's going on inside of Itachi. He has a scroll next to him that he's taking detailed notes of what he's seeing and how to go about treatment.

Itachi didn't want this. He didn't want the attention, but if he didn't at least get looked at, there would be a lot of people who wouldn't be talking to him. Not just both of his brothers. Hashirama's hands are large and warm against his back. It's strange because he's not big on people touching him so he's not used to the physical contact, especially from someone who isn't family.

Thankfully, Itachi doesn't have to focus on the hands on his back and can just focus on the little noises that Hashirama is making. His sighs of disbelief and worry, and the click of his tongue. He's too nice of a man to turn away form someone in need, but that doesn't mean he's happy about the situation in the slightest. If Itachi didn't need medical attention and Hashirama wasn't the only one who they trusted to look after him, Hashirama might be too upset to be with him right then too. But Hashirama was the only one who could look after him so he has no choice but to stay.

"Are you mad at me?" Itachi asks softly, after about ten minutes of listening to Hashirama mumbling to himself.

Hashirama's hands still on the center of his spine and his right shoulder. "Yes," Hashirama admits after a long silence, his hands start moving again. "I wish you would have said something. Both families have lost so much over the years, I thought that we were all done losing things."

Itachi looks over his shoulder at the older, brown haired man, wondering how to get him to understand how he feels. "Everyone has been worried about me since I was young. My parents, my brothers, they've always worried about me. I just didn't want people to worry about me anymore. I don't want people blowing things out of proportion for me anymore. I want to focus on Marume, and Kawarama."

"We can appreciate that," Hashirama says diplomatically. "But, as much pain as this brings me, my precious baby brother isn't here anymore. As much as I wish it wasn't true, it is. I happen to agree with Madara, no vengeance for one brother is worth losing another. I know that you feel like people have been babying you all your life, but I hate to break it to you, Itachi, you were the youngest of four brothers. You're the baby." Hashirama smiles faintly, with a touch of mirth.

Itachi appreciates him trying to lighten the mood, and goes with it. "I know, but I'm not a little boy anymore. I am sixteen years old. By clan standards, I am an adult."

"But by doting big brother standards, that's not going to happen," Hashirama says, grinning at him. "Ask Itama, if I could get away with speaking to him in a baby voice, I would."

Itachi actually laughs at that, looking forward again as his long, thin hair slides over his shoulder and onto his back, ticking his skin a bit. He shivers at the feeling. Maybe he should cut it? "I pity poor Itama. I would kill my brothers if either of them spoke to me like that."

Hashirama laughs as he gathers up Itachi's hair and pushes it over his shoulder again, his movements slow and purposefully. His fingers ghost over Itachi's - begrudgingly - thin shoulders, cause gooseflesh to appear. "I know, he's threatened me many times. I can sort of get away doing stuff like that as a joke with Itama, Tobirama would literally murder me just moments after the first sound left my lips. He's got no time for nonsense. He's too serious all the time. Where is my precious baby brother?"

Hashirama lets out a long, dramatic sigh, shaking his head and bring one of his hands onto Itachi's shoulder, pushing one side forward a bit, so that he would be able to see something in the light. He presses against something on Itachi's back, just below his right shoulder blade. His fingers wrap around Itachi's ribs while his thumb presses against the spot again. "Does that hurt?"

Itachi shakes his head. "No, why?"

"There is slight discoloration there, I wondered if maybe it was bruise but it's hard to tell in this light," Hashirama says. "Well, if it doesn't hurt you now, then I won't worry about it, but be honest with me if something starts to hurt."

"Yes, sir," Itachi says, turning his eyes back to the window that he's been looking out of since he got into this room.

"I mean it, Itachi," Hashirama says, warningly. "I won't be able to fix what's wrong with you if I don't know everything."

"Do you really think you will be able to fix me?" Itachi asks smoothly. He has no delusions, somehow he's always suspected that this sickness would kill him. It was just something that he knew. He wasn't afraid to die, but he was scared to leave his brothers behind with bitter feelings about themselves and their lives. They would hate themselves if they didn't do everything they could to try and save him. Itachi almost wished they hated him, then he could die without worrying. At least in that case, they would be happy that he was gone.

"I do," Hashirama says, assuredly. "Just give me some time. I'll have you better than ever in no time. Count on it."

Itachi wished that he could have that level of confidence, but was wondering if maybe he was just trying to cover his worry over not being able to fix what was wrong with Itachi. He appreciates the optimism, but he doesn't have that much faith. Somehow, since he was a child, Itachi never expect that he was going to live a long, full life. He was destined to die young. It was a feeling he didn't know how to explain to others, it was just something that he felt, that he knew in his heart.

Itachi bows his head a bit, pulling his shoulders in. Hashirama pulls back a bit, seeing the back part of Itachi's ribs and his spine pull at his skin, belying how sick he's becoming. He didn't have any appetite and was loosing weight because of it. Hopefully, now that Hashirama knows that there is something wrong, he's going to be able to help the younger boy in front of him.

* * *

"Madara," Itachi says, His older brother doesn't move, just stares out over the village from atop of the mountain. He's been looking for his eldest brother for hours after Hashirama let him go, telling him to come back the next morning so that they could start treatment. He had to take some time to think about what they needed to do. Itachi wasn't optimistic, but was willing to go along with it in order to somehow stabilize the relationship with everyone.

If Itachi doesn't attempt to get better, his brothers might never speak to him again, let alone look at him.

"Brother, you can't ignore me forever," Itachi says.

"It's not going to be forever," Madara says to the wind, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. "It's just going to be until I die, because there is no way in hell my baby brother isn't going to outlive me."

Itachi doesn't respond to that, he just walks over to the edge and sits down next to his big brother, hoping that Madara had calmed down enough not to just shove him off the side of the cliff and fall to his death. Thankfully, when Madara looks over at him, his eyes were sad, not angry. So at least he's got that going for him. He can roll with that.

"You know I love you, right?" Itachi says, leaning forward and looking into his brother's eyes.

Madara squeezes his eyes shut tight for a moment, trying to find the words, before turning to look at Itachi with large, dark eyes. "And I you, brother. I was only given three brothers in this world. I already lost one of you. I don't want to lose anymore. I just want you to take care of yourself more. I want you to find a reason to keep living that isn't just to kill Marume's killers. I want you to be happy to be alive."

"I'm not unhappy," Itachi tells him. "I just wanted you to know that. It's nothing you and Izuna did. I suppose it's just how I'm wired. I have always been nothing but a burden to you and Izuna, and our family, since the day I lost my memory. Since the day I failed to save Marume. I didn't want to be a burden anymore. If I had it my way, I would quietly fade from existence without anyone knowing."

Madara shakes his head, a frown pulling on his lips. "I just can't understand that. Why would you want that?"

Itachi smiles thinly back at him. "I don't know. I just do. It's just how I feel. Is there no way for you to be able to understand that?"

Madara looks away, shaking his head again. "No. I don't think I can. I can never understand why someone would rather wither away to nothing, making his family suffer through watching him do just that, instead of trying to keep himself with those that love him more than anything. I can't understand that. I won't apologize for that."

Itachi also looks away. "I understand. I know that you want me to try and fight for my life, and for you and Izuna, I will try."

The muscles in Madara's jaws starts working, flexing and relaxing. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. He wanted Itachi to fight for his life, for himself. Not because others wanted him to, but so long as he was fighting, Madara was willing to let that be as it may. He doesn't like it, but he'll live with it for now. So long as Itachi starts taking better care of himself, then Madara will let it be. For now. Step one.

"You're going to get better," Madara says, nodding to himself. "Hashirama's going to fix you. I know he will." Itachi pulls his eyes away from his brother to look back out over their home. Today wasn't the way he wanted his birthday to be like, but the truth had to come out somehow, someday. He neatly folds his hands onto his lap, a strange feeling settling in his belly. It wasn't the painful throbbing any longer, but something else that unsettles him. Something he's not sure about yet.

That night, he dreams of Marume.


End file.
